%  PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


% 


Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa, 
BV    110    .M2    1822^  ' 

Macbeth,    John. 
A  dissertation  on  the 
Sabbath 

Number 


L. 


V 


% 


DISSERTATION 


ON 


THE    SABBATH; 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  INSTITUTION, 


AND    THE     OBLIGATIONS    TO     ITS     OBSERVANCE, 


ARE  STATED  AND  ILLUSTRATED. 


BY  THE 


Rev.  JOHN^ACBETH,  A.M. 


GLASGOW: 

PRINTED   FOR  WILLIAM  TURNBULL; 

WAUGH  &   INNES,  EDINBURGH;    AND  LONGMAN,  HURST, 

REES,  ORME,  &  BROWN,  LONDON. 

1822. 


James  Curll,  Printer,  26,  Bell-Street. 


TO 

JOHN  SMITH  WRIGHT,  Esa. 

OF 

BULLCOTE- LODGE. 


SIR, 

A  short  publication  of  mine  having  fallen 
into  your  hands,  you  were  pleased  to  express  a  kindness 
for  the  Author;  and  since  that  time,  he  has  enjoyed  the 
favour  of  your  friendship. 

When,  with  some  reluctance,  you  allowed  me  to  prefix 
your  name  to  the  following  Work,  it  was  upon  the  express 
condition,  that  I  should  use  this  liberty  with  great  deli- 
cacy. I  will  not  give  you  pain,  by  attempting  to  display 
that  humble  and  fervent  piety,  by  which  you  are  distin- 
guished, and  of  which  you  have  given  many  substantial 
proofs  to  the  world. 

a2 


IV 

If  my  humble  labours  shall  be  blessed  of  Heaven  to 
promote  the  cause  of  goodness,  I  know  you  will  rejoice ; 
and  the  highest  wish  of  the  Author  will  be  giatified. 

That  you  may  be  long  spared  to  be  a  blessing  to  your 
Family,  and  to  all  with  whom  you  are  connected,  is 
the  earnest  desire  of, 

SIR, 

Your  obUged  humble  Servant, 

JOHN  MACBETH. 

2bth  December y  1822. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  Dissertation  on  the  Sabbath,  in 
which,  the  nature  of  the  institution — the  history 
of  its  orinjin — the  obligations  to  its  observance — 
and    the   advantages  attending  its   sanctification, 
are   examined   and   detailed — is   oflPered    to    the 
public  with   much  deference.     The  Author   lays 
no  claim  to  originality,  in  any  of  the  arguments 
he  has  employed.     He  is  perfectly  aware,  that  we 
live  at  too  late  a  period  of  the  world,  to  obtain  so 
rare  a  merit,  on  a  question  that  has  been  so  often, 
and  so  fully  discussed.     The  subject,  however,  is 
one,   respecting  which,   mankind  are  very  much 
divided  in  opinion ;  and  he  is  not  without  hope, 
that  the  present  work  may  prove  useful,  by  calling 
the  attention  of  the  reader  to  a  view  of  it,  which 
has  not  been  very  generally  contemplated.     He  is 
sensible,  that  there  is  much  omitted  which  might, 
in   the  opinion  of  others,   have  been  introduced; 
A3 


VI 

and  the  discussion  of  some  controverted  points 
may  not  be  so  full  as  a  polemical  writer  would 
exhibit,  or  expect.  But  it  has  been  the  Author's 
study,  to  reject  all  extraneous  matter — to  avoid  all 
unnecessary  controversy — and  to  state  and  illus- 
trate arguments,  which  might  contribute  to  advance 
the  knowledge  and  piety  of  the  reader,  rather 
than  display  his  own  acuteness  or  dexterity. 

The  present  is  an  age  of  great  profession  of 
religion;  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  great  profane- 
ness;  and  it  would  be  particularly  gratifying,  if 
the  following  Treatise  should  have  the  slightest 
effect  in  checking  the  spread  of  the  one,  and  giving 
excitement  and  encouragement  to  the  other.  Our 
intercourse  with  the  nations  of  the  Continent,  has 
not  contributed  to  increase  our  attachment  to  the 
ordinances  and  the  laws  of  the  Gospel;  and  it  is 
much  to  be  feared,  that,  where  a  regard  to  these 
is  neglected,  the  principles  and  duties  of  morality 
will  be  but  partially  cherished  and  obeyed.  The 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day  has  long  been  loudly 
complained  of,  as  a  growing  evil  among  us;  and 
if  it  be  true,  that,  on  its  public  observance,  our 
character  as  a  religious  people  mainly  depends, 
that  character  must  be  in  imminent  jeopardy,  from 
the  open  and  increasing  violation  of  the  sanctity 


Vll 

of  this  sacred  institution.  It  becomes  the  duty, 
then,  of  all  ranks  in  the  country,  to  oppose  the 
authority  of  their  instructions,  and  the  influence 
of  their  example,  to  an  evil  which  threatens  us 
with  national  demoralization  and  depravity;  and 
it  would  be  well,  if  the  higher  and  privileged 
orders  of  the  state,  would  open  their  eyes  to  the 
consequences  of  public  profligacy,  before  it  reaches 
a  crisis,  at  which  it  may  defy  their  wisdom  and 
power  to  apply  a  remedy  or  restraint. 

The  desecration  of  the  Sabbath,  has,  like  all 
other  acts  of  religious  apostacy,  "  arisen  from 
small  beginnings;  and,  by  an  unperceived,  because 
a  gradual  growth,  it  has,  at  last,  gained  a  most 
alarming  height."  The  violation  of  the  fourth 
commandment,  has  greatly  accelerated  and  aggra- 
vated the  violation  of  the  others;  because,  when 
the  fear  and  worship  of  God  are  publicly  and 
habitually  cast  off",  the  private  restraints  of  con- 
science are  easily  relaxed, — the  feelings  of  personal 
apprehension  are  soon  subdued, — and  the  censure 
and  reprobation  of  the  world  gradually  disre- 
garded and  despi-sed.  The  truth  of  religion, 
however,  is  immutable;  and  if  the  penalties 
which  are  denounced  against  its  despisers,  are  not 
uniformly    inflicted,    they    are,    most    certainly, 


Vlll 

uniformly  incurred.  The  cup  of  the  wrath  of  one 
nation,  may  be  sooner  filled  than  that  of  another; 
but,  in  no  instance,  can  the  neglect  or  contempt 
of  the  sacred  ordinances  of  religion  escape  un- 
punished. The  laws  which  were  promulgated  from 
Mount  Sinai,  are  still  binding  upon  all  the  nations 
and  kingdoms  of  the  earth;  and  wherever  the 
more  spiritual  and  comprehensive  enactments  of 
the  Gospel  have  been  published,  there  do  the 
justice  and  the  mercy  of  God,  with  peculiar  sanc- 
tions, enforce  their  obedience. 

He,  therefore,  is  the  truest  friend  to  his  country, 
who  is  the  most  ardent  promoter  of  its  moral 
interests,  and  he  deserves  to  be  most  richly 
emblazoned  in  the  annals  of  its  reputation,  who 
stands  in  the  breach  of  its  public  and  private 
immoralities,  and  warns  the  guardians  of  its 
political  rights,  and  the  patrons  of  its  sacred 
institutions,  of  the  danger  they  will  incur  to 
themselves,  and  the  evil  they  will  entail  on  pos- 
terity, if  they  relax  the  restraints,  or  diminish  the 
obligations  of  religion  on  the  heart  and  the  life  of 
man.  He  deserves  the  highest  reward,  who  holds 
up  to  his  countrymen,  the  true  portrait  of  their 
virtues  and  their  vices;  and  who  ceases  not  to 
proclaim  to  them,   that  righteousness  alone  can 


IX 

exalt  a  natfon,  while  sin  is  the  disgrace  and  the 
ruin  of  every  people.  "  Wherefore,"  thus  saith  the 
Lord,  "  be  instructed,  O  Jerusalem,  lest  my  soul 
depart  from  thee — lest  I  make  thee  desolate— a 
land  not  inhabited."  *  Lo,  this  is  what  has  been 
sought  out  of  old,  and  found;  hear  it,  and  know 
it  for  thy  good — "  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot 
from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on 
my  holy  day,  and  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the 
holy  of  the  Lord,  honourable,  and  shalt  honour 
him,  not  doing  thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine 
own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own  words; 
then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord;  and 
I  will  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of 
the  earth,  and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of 
Jacob  thy  father;  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it."  f 

*  Jer.  vi.  8.  f  Isaiah  Iviii.  13,  14. 


% 


^^"^^^^ 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

INTRODUCTION, 13 

SECTION  II. 
Origin  and  Antiquity  of  the  Institution  of  the  Sabbath, 16 

SECTION  III. 
The  Observance  of  the  Sabbath  unconnected  with  the  Per- 
formance of  Ceremonial  Rites, 27 

SECTION  IV. 
Examination  of  the  grounds  on  which  the  distinction  between 
moral   and   positive   duties   is   founded;    so   far  as   that 
distinction  affects  the  moral  obligation  of  observing  the 
Sabbath, 37 

SECTION  V. 
Moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  proved  from  the  primary  end 
of  its  institution, ..  57 

SECTION  VI. 
Review  of  the  objections  urged  against  the  Antiquity  and 
moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath, 71 

SECTION  VII. 

The  Writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  furnish  the  clearest  and 
most  satisfactory  proof,  that  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
had  a  moral,  and  not  a  ceremonial  obligation, 92 


Xll 

SECTION  VIII. 

Page 
Moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  under  the  Christian  Dispen- 
sation,  115 

SECTION  IX. 
Reason  of  the  change  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  Seventh  to  the 
First  Day  of  the  Week, 129 

SECTION  X. 

Manner  in  which  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  Sanctified, 165 

SECTION  XL 

Examination  of  some  of  the  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the 
Profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 200 

SECTION  XII. 

Advantages  which  the  Sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  is  calcu- 
lated to  produce, 227 

NOTES, 265 


DISSERTATION,   &c. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  whether  contem- 
plated in  a  moral  or  political  point  of  view,  cannot 
fail  to  have  furnished  to  every  true  Christian, 
copious  matter  of  varied  and  pleasing  reflection. 
Its  wisdom  and  utility,  in  reference  merely  to  the 
temporal  concerns  of  man,  claim  for  it  our  highest 
regard  and  admiration:  for,  if  we  consider  that 
human  nature  is  unable  to  endure  the  hardship  of 
incessant  or  long-continued  exertion,  and  that, 
by  the  present  constitution  of  society,  the  largest 
portion  of  our  race  must  continue  to  be  "  hewers 
of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water," — in  the  view  only 
of  affording  relief  to  our  toilsome  condition,  the 
appointment  of  one  day  of  rest  in  seven,  must 
appear  peculiarly  seasonable  and  salutary.  If  we 
do  not  regard  the  bulk  of  mankind  as  mere 
drudges,  whose  destiny  it  is,  to  toil  in  hopeless 
B 


14 

poverty,  while  the  higher  classes  draw  from  their 
labours,  the  means  of  ease  and  luxury — if  we  admit, 
that  all  men  have  a  right  to  personal  enjoyment, 
and  have  certain  duties  to  perform,  as  rational  and 
accountable  beings — it  must  be  allowed,  that  it  is 
of  the  highest  importance  to  their  intellectual 
improvement  and  happiness,  that  there  should  be 
regular  and  fixed  intervals  of  rest,  devoted  to  the 
cultivation  of  moral  and  religious  truth.  This  is 
one  end  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath;  and  thus 
does  it  prove  an  effectual  means  of  preventing  men 
from  becoming  forgetful  of  their  religious  and 
moral  duties,  and,  consequently,  from  relapsing 
into  a  deplorable  state  of  brutal  ignorance  and 
barbarity. 

But  this,  comparatively  speaking,  is  a  very  con- 
fined and  inferior  end,  of  this,  the  most  ancient  and 
venerable  institution  known  to  human  society.  As 
the  means  of  uniting  us  in  fellowship  with  God, 
and  of  recalling  to  our  minds  his  creating  power 
and  redeeming  love — as  the  symbol  of  that  peace- 
ful blessedness  which  awaits  the  faithful  in  the  land 
of  uninterrupted  purity  and  rest — there  is  no 
appointment  of  Providence,  and  no  ordinance  of 
religion,  which  point  more  directly  to  the  present 
dignity  of  man,  and  his  future  destination  to  glory. 
It  abstracts  him  from  the  cares  and  the  business  of 
life.     It  lifts  him  above  the  influence  of  his  senses, 


15 

and  of  the  objects  which  seduce  or  distract  them. 
It  withdraws  him  from  an  intercourse  with  what  is 
transient,  and  unsatisfactory,  and  perishing,  to  a 
communion  with  what  is  immutable  in  its  existence, 
and  unlimited  in  the  sources  of  its  enjoyment.  It 
raises  him  above  the  character  and  the  concerns  of 
a  mortal.  It  carries  his  wishes  and  his  hopes 
beyond  the  associations  and  employments  of  an 
inhabitant  of  this  world  of  change  and  decline; 
and  furnishes  him  with  a  foretaste  of  the  peace, 
and  placidity,  and  blessedness,  which  await  him, 
after  the  fashions  and  the  follies  of  time  have 
passed  away.  It  exalts  him,  in  fine,  above  the 
pursuits  and  pleasures  of  animal  existence.  It 
leads  him  to  the  fountain  of  intellectual  and  moral 
felicity;  and  consummates  all  his  labours,  and 
disappointments,  and  virtues,  and  sufferings,  with 
the  hope  and  earnest  of  glory,  honour,  and  im- 
mortality. 


'^'^^^^ 


'^^^%.  16 
PEIHGBTON     1^ 

RiQMmf 


SECTION  II. 


Origin  and  Antiquity/  of  the  Institution  of  the  Sabbaths 

In  the  brief  account  which  Moses  has  left  us,  of 
the  early  history  of  the  world,  the  work  of  creating 
and  replenishing  the  earth  with  all  the  beautiful 
varieties  of  its  vegetable  and  animal  tribes,  is  re- 
presented as  having  been  progressive.  At  first,  it 
was  without  form  and  void ;  but,  when  the  Spirit 
of  the  Almighty  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  deep, 
darkness  fled  away,  and  light  and  gladness  spread 
over  the  renovated  scene.  The  blue  ethereal  fir- 
mament came  next  into  existence,  at  his  awakening 
call,  in  whose  boundless  fields,  numberless  worlds, 
various  and  vast  in  their  magnitudes,  revolve;  but 
which,  notwithstanding  all  our  curiosity,  and  all 
our  ambition,  to  penetrate  their  analogies  and 
histories,  will,  in  all  probability,  never  be  other- 
wise known  to  living  man,  than  that  they  do  exist. 
The  waters,  again,  are  commanded  to  withdraw 
from  the  indiscriminate  possession  of  the  earth,  and 
their  channels  are  encompassed  with  bounds  which 
they  cannot  pass.     The  grateful  view  of  a  rich  and 


17 

diversified  herbage,  next  clothes  the  surface  of 
our  globe,  and  every  herb  and  tree  yielded  their 
fruit  after  their  kind,  whose  seed  was  within  them 
every  one  after  its  kind,  so  that  their  succession 
might  never  fail.  At  the  omnipotent  command  of 
Jehovah,  vast  masses,  both  of  luminous  and  dark 
matter,  hasten  to  arrange  themselves  into  systems; 
and,  along  with  some  which  took  their  stations  in 
the  regions  of  unformed  light,  and  others  which 
disposed  themselves  within  the  enlivening  influence 
of  some  primary  star,  God  appointed,  in  our 
portion  of  the  firmament,  two  lights,  "  the  sun,  to 
rule  by  day,  and  the  moon,  to  rule  by  night:  for 
his  mercy  endureth  for  ever."  Next,  there  came 
into  existence,  at  the  creative  voice  of  the  Almighty, 
endless  tribes  of  living  creatures,  with  which,  the 
air,  and  the  earth,  and  the  seas,  were  peopled. 
All  around,  and  above,  and  below,  teemed  with 
fowl  after  their  kind,  and  cattle  after  their  kind, 
and  creeping  things  after  their  kind; — all  endowed 
with  instincts,  the  most  wisely  suited  to  their 
natures,  and  surrounded  with  ingredients  of  life 
and  happiness,  the  most  abundant,  and  the  most 
perfectly  adapted  to  their  capacities.  Last  of  all, 
man  appeared  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe,  made 
after  the  similitude  of  God  himself,  and  gifted  by 
his  inspiration  with  understanding,  by  which  he 
might  hold  dominion  over  all  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
B    3 


18 

and  the  fowls  of  the  air;  and  with  the  power  of 
distinguishing  right  from  wrong,  by  which  he 
might  choose  what  was  good,  and  avoid  what  was 
evil,  and  continue  to  enjoy  the  favour  and  com- 
munion of  his  Creator. — "  And  God  saw  every 
thing  that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very 
good." 

Now,  after  all  this  marvellous  and  magnificent 
work  is  completed, — which,  in  condescension  to  the 
ideas  and  feelings  of  man,  and  in  correspondence 
with  the  established  divisions  of  time,  is  represented 
as  having  been  finished  in  six  days, — on  the 
seventh,  the  Almighty  blessed  the  day,  and  sancti- 
fied it;  because,  on  it  he  had  rested  from  all  the 
works  which  he  had  created  and  made.  "  Thus 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all 
the  host  of  them.  And  on  the  seventh  day,  God 
ended  his  work  which  he  had  made.  And  God 
blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it."*  Here, 
then,  is  the  first  intimation  of  a  Sabbath,  which  is 
to  be  found  in  any  writings;  and  there  are  some 
circumstances  connected  with  the  account,  which 
afford  the  strongest  evidence  of  its  very  high 
antiquity,  and  give  a  very  powerful  sanction  to  its 
universal  obligation. 

We  have  the  concurrent  testimony  of  ancient 


Gen.  ii.   1,  2,  5. 


19 

history,  that  the  institution  of  that  short  period, 
called  weeks,  consisting  each  of  seven  days,  was 
the  first  method  which  was  resorted  to,  for 
measuring  and  dividing  time.  Now,  we  are 
naturally  led  to  enquire.  What  event  or  circum- 
stance could  have  suggested  to  the  early  inhabitants 
of  the  world,  this  division  of  time,  in  preference 
to  any  other?  The  history  of  every  society  of 
men,  which  ever  existed  on  the  earth,  generally 
exhibits  to  us  some  causes  sufficient  to  account  for 
till  the  political  customs,  and  domestic  rites,  and 
conventional  practices,  which  prevailed  among 
them;  and,  if  we  are  unable,  at  any  time,  to  dis- 
cover the  causes  of  these  rites  and  customs,  the 
failure  must  be  ascribed  entirely  to  our  ignorance 
of  the  circumstances  in  which  they  originated;  or, 
what  is  the  same  thing,  to  our  want  of  access  to 
the  records  or  legends  by  which  they  are  explained. 
Fortunately  for  our  general  argument,  we  have 
access,  in  the  present  case,  to  the  most  satisfactory 
information.  The  computation  by  days,  is  so 
obvious,  that  it  would,  unquestionably,  be  the  first 
method  which  men  in  the  very  first  stage  of  society 
would  employ;  and,  as  soon  as  they  had  begun  to 
observe  the  phaenomena  of  the  heavens,  the  division 
of  time  into  years  would  readily  be  suggested  to 
their  minds.  The  division  of  months,  also,  would 
be  alike  early  and  naturally  adopted:  for,   if  the 


apparent  circuit  of  the  sun  round  the  earth,  gave 
rise  to  the  distinction  of  years,  the  latter  period  of 
time  would  equally  originate  in  the  successive 
revolutions  of  the  moon  round  the  same  centre. 
But  the  institution  of  weeks  was  antecedent  to 
any  of  these  last  two  divisions  of  time;  and  its 
immemorial  use  among  the  nations  of  antiquity, 
without  any  variation  in  its  form  or  length,  clearly 
points  to  a  date  prior  to  the  discoveries  of  science, 
or  the  improvements  of  art.  The  length  of  the 
year,  besides,  was  different  among  different  people, 
in  the  early  ages  of  the  world;  and  so  also  was 
that  of  months.  But  the  week,  embracing  a  period 
of  seven  days,  never  varied.  It  could  not,  there- 
fore, as  some  have  supposed,  be  a  subdivision  of 
one  of  the  periods  now  mentioned;  otherwise,  it 
must  have  shared  the  variations,  to  which,  at 
different  times,  and  in  different  countries,  they 
were  subjected.  This,  however,  was  not  the  case; 
and  Assyrians  and  Egyptians — Arabians,  Israelites, 
and  Indians — have,  in  all  ages,  employed,  as  a 
measure  of  time,  a  week,  consisting  of  seven  days. 
Among  the  ancient  Romans,  Gauls,  Britons,  and 
Germans — as  well  as  among  the  nations  of  the 
North,  and  of  America — the  same  custom  pre- 
vailed; and  we  must,  therefore,  seek  its  origin  in 
some  cause  which  was  common  to  all,  but  uncon- 
nected with  the  peculiarities  of  any. 


21 

The  tradition,  concerning  the  space  of  time 
employed  in  the  creation  of  the  world, — the  ordi- 
nance of  heaven,  respecting  the  sanctification  of 
the  seventh  day,  published  immediately  after 
that  event, — can  alone  account  for  the  universality 
and  antiquity  of  the  above  custom.*  That  this 
tradition  was  derived  from  the  Books  of  Moses,  is 
impossible:  because,  it  existed  long  before  their 
publication ;  and  because  we  know,  that  there  was 
nearly  an  equal  reluctance  among  the  Jews  and  the 
Heathens  to  give,  or  receive  knowledge  from  each 
other,  as  well  as  nearly  an  equal  abhorrence  of  each 
other's  customs.  Among  the  Gentile  nations, 
particularly,  there  existed  a  deep-rooted  contempt 
for  every  thing  Jewish;  and,  as  we  have  the  most 
satisfactory  evidence,  that  the  distinction  of  weeks, 
and  the  observance  of  a  seventh  day,  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  the  Supreme  Deity,  constituted  a 
universal  custom  among  all  the  nations  destitute  of 
divine  revelation,  we  must  go  back  to  the  land  of 
Shinar,  and  the  days  "  when  the  whole  earth  was 
of  one  language  and  of  one  speech,"  to  find  the 
origin  of  the  tradition  in  question,  and  to  account 


•  Neque  est  ulla  civitas  Graecorum  aut  Barbarorum,  neque  ulla 
gens,  ad  quam,  septimi  diei,  in  quo  vacamus,  consuetude  minine 
pervenerit. 

Joseph,  Cont,  Apj), 


22 

for  the  institution  of  weeks.*  On  the  sixth  day,  God 
created  man,  and  gave  him  dominion  over  all  the 
inferior  creation.  "  On  the  seventh  day,  God  ended 
his  work  which  he  had  made.  And  he  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it ;  because  that  in  it 
he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  he  had 
created  and  made."  In  conformity,  then,  to  the 
example  and  command  of  the  Almighty,  (for  the 
above  account  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
has  been  viewed  as  an  express  order  for  its  obser- 
vance,-)-) Adam  would  consecrate  every  seventh  day 
to  the  holy  exercises  of  devotion;  and  the  recur- 
rence of  such  days  would  furnish  him  with  the 
mode  of  reckoning  the  time  which  passed  over 
him,  by  weeks,  before  he  could  have  any  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  its  division  into  months  and 
years, — and  before  he  could,  by  any  circumstances 
whatever,  be  led  to  adopt  such  a  division. 

The  knowledge,  moreover,  of  the  divine  appoint- 
ment of  the  Sabbath,  and  of  the  institution  of 
weeks,  would  be  easily  transmitted  from  Adam  to 
Noah;  and  as  Noah  was  distinguished  as  a  preacher 
of  righteousness,  we  may  be  assured,  that  he  would 
not  fail  to  instruct  his  posterity  in  the  divine  ordi- 
nances and  laws  which  he  had  learned  from  his 


•  See  Note  A.  f  See  Note  B. 


23 

forefathers.  From  them,  the  same  knowledge 
would  be  directly,  and  without  perversion,  con- 
veyed to  Abraham  and  the  other  Patriarchs;  and 
from  Ham  and  Japheth,  it  would  likewise,  without 
doubt,  be  communicated  to  all  the  other  nations 
of  mankind,  which  soon  spread  over  the  face  of 
the  earth.* 

In  confirmation  of  this  statement,  I  may  here 
more  particularly  observe,  that  we  have  as  full 
evidence  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  that 
the  practice  of  computing  time  by  weeks,  did 
prevail  among  the  Patriarchs;  and  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt,  that  it  was  a  practice  coeval 
with  the  history  of  man,  and  observed  by  him,  in 
honour  of  the  creation.  It  is  recorded,  that  when 
the  Almighty  called  Noah  into  the  ark,  he  sus- 
pended the  execution  of  his  judgment,  for  the 
space  of  seven  days.f  When  the  waters  began  to 
subside,  Noah,  at  intervals  of  the  same  duration, 


*  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Adam  lived  508  years  after  the 
birth  of  Enoch,  243  after  that  of  Methuselah,  66  after  that  of 
Lamech,  the  father  of  Noah,  and  he  was  dead  only  126  years  at 
the  birth  of  the  last  mentioned  Patriarch.  The  wisdom  of  this 
arrangement  is  obvious.  Knowledge  could  not,  in  all  probability, 
have  been  transmitted  entire,  or  without  perversion,  orally  or  by 
tradition,  through  so  many  hundred  years,  (nearly  eleven  hun- 
dred, from  the  creation  of  Adam,  till  the  birth  of  Noah,)  if  the 
age  of  man  had  been  as  limited  as  it  is  now.  As  it  was,  however, 
the  risk  of  loss  or  corruption  was  of  no  amount  whatever, 
f  Gen.  vii.  4. 


24 

sent  out  a  dove,  three  different  times,  to  ascertain 
if  any  part  of  the  land  was  left  dry.*  Jacob,  when 
serving  for  Rachel,  was  commanded  by  her  father 
Laban,  to  "  fulfil  her  week;"  and  it  appears  from 
Judges  xiv.  12,  that  by  this,  was  meant,  the  custom 
of  entertaining  her  relations  for  seven  days  before 
he  received  her  in  marriage,  f 

Seven  was  the  number  of  perfection  among  the 
Jews; — and,  accordingly,  we  find,  in  their  sacred 
books,  a  great  many  mysterious  events  and  cir- 
cumstances represented  by  it;  as  well  as  some 
cases,  in  which  it  is  obviously  applied  as  symbolical 
of  the  character  of  the  true  God,  the  Creator 
of  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  When  Job  was 
visited  with  his  heavy  calamities  and  afflictions,  he 
sat  on  the  ground  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights, 
before  he  gave  utterance  to  his  grief,  f  Balaam, 
in  several  instances,  erected  seven  altars  to  the 
Lord ;  and  offered,  on  every  altar,  a  bullock  and 
a  ram.  1|  The  friends  of  Job  were  commanded  to 
offer  the  same  number  of  bullocks  and  rams,  as  a 
burnt-offering  to  the  Lord,  before  they  were  ac- 
cepted by  him;  §  and  other  proofs  of  the  universality 
of  the  custom,  might  be  plentifully  adduced  from 


•  Gen.  viii.  8 — 15.  f  Gen.  xxix.  27.  ^  Job  ii.  15. 

II  Num.  xxiii.  1,  to  the  end.  §  Job  xlii.  8. 


various  parts  of  the  sacred  writings. — See  1  Chron. 
XV.  26.  2  Chron.  xxiv.  21.  and  Ezek.  xlv.  23. 

Now,  if  it  be  allowed,  (as  we  think,  in  fair  criti- 
cism, it  ought,)  that  the  work  of  creation  was  sym- 
bolically alluded  to,  by  the  custom  to  which  we 
have  just  referred, — and  that,  moreover,  the  work 
of  creation  was  commemorated  in  the  patriarchal, 
or  pastoral  ages,  by  the  division  of  time  into  weeks, 
— we  arrive,  by  a  just  and  clear  induction,  at  this 
inference,  that  the  seventh  day  must  have  been 
regularly  computed  and  remembered  from  the 
beginning.  And,  such  being  the  case,  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  that  the  worshippers  of  the  living 
and  true  God,  bad  all  along  honoured  that  day, 
by  such  a  cessation  from  servile  labour  as  their 
circumstances  would  permit. 

On  the  whole,  then,  we  regard  the  fact,  of  the 
very  ancient  and  universal  division  of  time  into 
weeks,  as  a  direct  and  powerful  argument  for  the 
very  ancient  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  and  th€ 
very  universal  knowledge  of  the  moral  obligation 
of  its  observance.  Because  that  knowledge  was 
afterwards  corrupted  and  lost,  militates  nothing 
against  our  position ;  and  hence,  we  cortsider  our- 
selves warranted  to  conclude,  that,  as  the  division 
of  time  by  weeks,  was  the  earliest  mode  of  compu- 
tation adopted  by  mankind,  so  the  institution  of 
the  Sabbath,  which  was  the  cause  of  that  division, 
c 


26 

must  have  been  the  earliest  public  religious  ap- 
pointment with  which  they  were  acquainted. 

I  am  perfectly  aware,  however,  that  all  which 
has  now  been  advanced,  may  be  assented  to  by 
men,  who  still  deny  the  moral  obligation  of  ob- 
serving and  sanctifying  the  Sabbath.  I  know 
that  there  are  persons,  who,  with  an  inconsistency 
and  an  obstinacy,  surely  not  very  creditable  to 
their  judgment  or  piety,  admit  the  truth  of  all  that 
is  related  in  the  Book  of  Genesis,  respecting  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  the  space  of  time  which 
is  there  represented  as  being  occupied  in  the  stu- 
pendous work, — and  yet  deny  that  the  observance 
of  the  day  of  rest,  there  described  as  sanctified  and 
set  apart  for  the  worship  of  God,  was  meant  to  be 
morally  binding  on  us.  But,  as  the  ground  of 
their  objection  involves  some  points  different  from 
that  we  have  been  considering  above,  we  shall 
make  it  the  subject  of  examination  in  a  separate 
Section, 


27 


SECTION  III. 

The  Observance  of  the  Sabbath  unconnected  with  the 
Performance  of  Cei'emonial  Rites. 

An  opinion  has  been  openly  avowed,  and  stoutly 
defended,  by  some  expounders  of  moral  duty,  who 
have  manifested  an  indiscreet  zeal  for  simplifying 
and  reducing  the  external  form*  of  religion,  that 
the  observance  of  days  and  seasons,  is,  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  or  in  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament,  enjoined  by  no  positive  authority; 
and  that,  therefore,  their  neglect  interferes  with 
no  moral  obligation,  and  is  subject  to  no  moral 
penalty.  From  an  apparent  eagerness,  moreover, 
to  get  quit  of  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a 
duty  binding  on  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  all 
men, — they  contend,  that  it  was  only  a  day  of 
ceremonial  appointment, — that  it  was  only  one  of 
those  institutions,  which  were  designed  to  distin- 
guish the  peculiar  character  and  religion  of  the 
Jews, — and  that  its  obligations  were,  of  conse- 
quence, abrogated,  when  our  Saviour  triumphed 
over  principalities  and  powers — and  blotted  out 
c  2 


S8 

the  hand-writing  of  ordinances  that  was  against  us; 
and  took  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  his  cross. 
I  shall  not  stop,  at  present,  to  inquire,  what  may 
be  the  particular  meaning  of  the  Apostle  in  the 
words  just  quoted;  for  this^  we  shall  have  an 
opportunity  of  doing  more  amply,  as  we  proceed ; 
but,  for  the  purpose  of  setting  the  question  before 
us,  in  a  clear  point  of  view,  I  make  the  following 
remarks: — 

That  which  is  in  itself  purely  ceiemonial,  has 
no  natural  or  essential  connection  with  moral  or 
religious  feeling.  All  ceremonial  appointments 
and  acts  are  purely  arbitrary  in  their  nature,  and 
secondary  in  their  influence  on  the  mind;  and 
cannot  possess  the  same  value  or  force  as  those 
commandments  which  reach  a  controlling  autho- 
rity ta  the  counsels  and  purposes  of  the  under- 
standing, and  to  the  public  and  private  transactions 
of  the  life.  Who,  for  instance,  would  compare 
the  abstinence  from  eating  blood,  or  any  legally 
unclean  animal,  with  abstinence  from  falsehood 
and  fraud,  or  intemperance  and  extortion?  Or 
who  would  say,  that  the  act  of  making  the  sign  of 
the  cross  on  any  part  of  the  body;  or  of  performing 
an  ablution,  was  alike  important  with  that  of 
working  in  upon  the  mind  a  mortification  of  evil 
and  impure  passions?  Or,  that  the  act  of  travelling 
to  the  ancient  seat  of  the  tabernacle,  to  discharge 


m 

a  vow,  was  alike  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God, 
with  tiiJit  of  continually  going  about  visiting  the 
widows  and  the  fatherless  in  their  afflictions,  and 
keeping  ourselves  unspotted  from  the  corruptions 
and  iniquities  of  the  world?  Ceremonial  acts  and 
appointments,  moreover,  are  only  temporary  and 
local  in  their  sanctions;  and,  except  so  far  as  their 
observance  is  enjoined  by  a  positive  rule,  or  com- 
mandment, they  may,  or  may  not,  be  performed, 
without  any  moral  praise,  or  reproach  being 
associated  with  our  conduct.  In  themselves,  they 
are  matters  of  indifference- — and  it  is  only  because 
they  are  the  means  ordained  for  the  expression  of 
our  dependence  upon  God,  and  our  veneration  of 
his  power;  it  is  only  because  they  are  the  sign  of 
our  desire  to  purify  our  hearts  from  iniquity,  and 
to  advance  in  the  cultivation  and  practice  of  holi- 
ness and  truth,  that  there  is  any  obligation  or 
responsibility  attached  to  them.  Besides,  the 
peculiarity  of  their  being  only  temporary  in  their 
obligations,  they  were  only  local  in  their  influence, 
and  could  not,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  apply 
to  the  condition  of  every  people.  Such  were 
almost  all  the  ritual  services  prescribed  by  the 
Mosaic  law;  binding  the  whole  Jewish  nation  to 
the  performance  of  sacrifices,  which  could  only  be 
offered  within  the  precincts  of  that  country;  and 
to  the  observance  of  ablutions  and  penances,  and 
c  3 


30 

to  distinctions  of  food  and  dress,  which  were  chiefly 
designed  to  cure  or  counteract  their  tendencies 
to  adopt  the  rites,  and  practise  the  abominations 
of  idolatry,  and  to  preserve  them  on  the  earth  as 
a  peculiar  people,  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the 
one  living  and  true  God. 

This,  we  conceive,  was  the  great  end  of  the 
ritual  services,  prescribed  to  the  descendants  of 
Abraham;  and  they  were  continued  among  them, 
^s  a  test  of  their  patience  and  sincerity  in  submitting 
to  the  authority,  in  adoring  the  majesty,  and 
obeying  the  commandments  of  that  Almighty 
Being,  who,  with  an  outstretched  arm,  and  great 
terribleness,  delivered  them  from  the  bondage  of 
Egypt,  and  gave  them  a  victorious  settlement  in 
the  land  of  Canaan.  They  formed  a  set  of  auxil- 
iary rules,  excellently  suited  to  an  infant  church, 
whose  members  were  unable  to  comprehend  fully 
the  more  spiritual  doctrines  of  religion;  and  who 
were  in  perpetual  danger  of  being  drawn  on  to  make 
shipwreck  of  their  faith,  by  the  vices  and  corrup- 
tions of  their  heathen  neighbours.  They  served 
as  landmarks,  to  show  them  all  that  was  externally 
due,  of  homage  and  reverence,  to  the  Almighty 
Creator  of  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  They  were 
well  calculated,  at  all  times,  to  keep  before  their 
view  the  great  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  the  God- 
head; to  preserve  within  their  minds  a  lively  sense 


31 

of  the  sinfulness  of  idolatry,  and  to  inspire  them 
with  a  hatred  of  the  practices,  and  a  dread  of  the 
consequences  to  which  it  led. 

Important,  however,  and  necessary  as  they  were, 
for  aiding  the  worshipper  in  his  adoration  of  the 
divine  attributes,  they  were  only  adapted  to  the 
condition  of  an  infant  people — they  were  only  the 
symbolical  representations  of  an  original  that  was 
yet  to  be  revealed — they  were  only  the  types  and 
shadows  of  a  more  simple  and  spiritual  dispensation 
that  was  yet  to  come;  and,  hence,  we  are  informed, 
that  when  He,  to  whom  they  all  pointed,  appeared 
in  the  world,  as  the  author  of  a  new  and  everlasting 
righteousness — he  blotted  out  the  hand-writing  of 
ordinances  that  stood  against  us,  in  the  legal  cere- 
monies of  the  ancient  dispensation,  and  directed 
us  to  a  purer,  and  more  spiritual  manner  of  wor- 
shipping the  Father,  through  himself,  as  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life.  But  the  institution  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  we  have  already  shown,  was  long  prior 
to  the  introduction  or  establishment  of  the  cere- 
monial rites  of  the  Jewish  worship;  and  it  cannot, 
by  any  fair  rule  of  criticism,  be  regarded  as 
possessing  the  same  character,  or  as  being  destined 
.  for  the  same  end.  The  fate  of  the  one,  cannot, 
by  any  fair  construction,  be  considered  as  involved 
in  the  fate  of  the  other.     The  hand-writing  of  legal 


S2 

ordinances  that  stood  against  us,  embraces  all  those 
ritual  prescriptions,  and  sacrificial  offerings,  which 
formed  the  middle-wall  of  partition,  that  prevented 
the  Gentiles  from  having  access  to  the  knowledge, 
the  worship,  and  the  favour  of  the  one  living  and 
true  God;  and  which  Jesus  Christ  our  peace-maker, 
broke  down,  that  he  might  reconcile  both  Jew  and 
Gentile  unto  God,  in  one  body  by  the  cross.  But  the 
institution  of  the  Sabbath,  was  primarily  and  preemi- 
nently intended  to  unite  all  mankind  in  the  bonds  of 
brotherly  unity  and  religious  homage,  to  their  com- 
monParent  and  Benefactor,and  could  not,  therefore, 
be  included  under  the  "  law  of  commandments," 
contained  in  ordinances  which  the  Saviour  abolished, 
that  he  might  make  to  himself  of  twain,  one  new 
man,  and  preach  peace  to  them  that  were  afar  off, 
and  to  them  that  were  nigh. 

A  ritual,  or  ceremonial  act,  has  a  reference  only 
to  the  externals  of  religious  worship;  and  experience 
has  proved  to  us,  that  it  may  be  performed,  in 
numberless  instances,  without  one  affection  of  the 
heart  being  awakened  to  fervour  of  devotion  tovvards 
the  Most  High.  A  moral,  or  spiritual  act,  (for  I 
take  the  term  moral  in  its  highest  and  most  extended 
sense,  embracing  the  operation  of  our  power  of 
distinguishing  right  from  wrong,  our  consciousness 
of  duty  and  of  crime,  and  our  capacity  of  enjoy- 


ment  and  suffering, )  a  moral  act  has  a  reference  to 
the  very  essentials  of  religion,  and  is  directly  cal- 
culated to  quicken  and  increase  our  love  and  reve- 
rence of  our  Creator,  and,  through  him,  our  love 
and  obedience  of  all  the  virtues  of  a  holy  and  pious 
life.  It  is  true,  that  the  same  authority  which 
commanded  the  Hebrews  to  consecrate  to  the 
Lord,  the  firstlings  of  their  flocks,  commanded  them 
also  to  remember  the  Sabbath,  to  keep  it  holy; 
but  no  one,  I  presume,  would  hold  these  acts  to  be 
intrinsically  of  equal  value,  any  more  than  he  would 
account  the  offering  of  thousands  of  rams,  and 
ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil,  to  be  equally  binding 
on  the  human  conscience,  and  equally  calculated 
to  advance  human  virtue  and  happiness,  with  the 
exalted,  though  unostentatious  dedication  of  our 
hearts  and  our  souls,  "  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  our  God."  The  sanctifi- 
cation  of  the  Sabbath,  embraces  our  instruction  and 
advancement  in  the  knowledge  and  performance  of 
those  last  mentioned  duties;  and  it  must,  therefore, 
be  an  institution  preeminently  superior,  in  its  sanc- 
tions and  its  tendencies,  in  its  obligations  and  its 
uses,  to  all  ritual  or  ceremonial  appointments 
whatever.  Wherefore,  let  it  be  particularly 
remembered,  that  if,  by  the  ceremonial  law  and 
worship  of  God,  be  meant  those  only  which  were 


34 

delivered  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  to  the 
heirs  of  the  promised  land,  (and  this,  we  believe,  is 
generally  admitted,)  then,  the  appointment  alluded 
to,  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,  cannot  be 
included  under  that  character.  When  the 
Almighty  rested  from  his  labour,  and  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  he  had  intimated 
no  intention  of  selecting  any  particular  people  to 
be  the  depositories  of  his  ordinances,  and  the  pre- 
servers of  the  knowledge  of  his  will  and  worship, 
among  men.  It  was  immediately  after  the  creation 
of  the  world — it  was  immediately  after  he  had 
planted  man  upon  the  earth,  to  hold  dominion 
over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  it — to 
preserve  upon  it  some  resemblance  to  the  glory 
and  perfection  of  heaven,  and  to  spread  the  image 
and  the  worship  of  Himself  over  its  yet  unpolluted, 
and  smiling,  and  luxuriant  surface — it  was  after 
this,  that  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day,  and 
blessed  and  sanctified  it.  We  ask,  then,  Was  this 
an  act  which  referred  solely  to  the  exercise  of  the 
infinite  attributes  of  the  divinity?  Was  this  an 
act  unconnected  with  the  future  condition  and 
felicity  of  man?  Or,  was  it  not  meant  to  be  an 
institution  in  society,  commemorative  of  the  creating 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  the  Most  High? 
A  Being  of  infinite  power,  could  not  possibly  grow 


35 

faint  or  weary  in  the  accomplishment  of  any  under- 
taking, the  most  stupendous,  nay,  far  more  stupen- 
dous than  any  of  which  our  minds  can  conceive: 
and,  when  we  are  informed  that  He  rested  from 
his  labour,  the  language  must  be  regarded  as 
applied  to  the  Creator,  in  reference  to  the  weak- 
ness and  imperfection  of  our  understanding;  and 
must  have  been  intended  to  secure  a  compliance 
with  the  practice,  on  the  ground  of  imitating  the 
most  exalted  and  most  perfect  example.  "  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labour  and  do  all  thy  work— But 
the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God:  in  it,  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work;  thou,  nor 
thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  &c.  For,  in  six  days, 
the  Lord  made  heaven,  and  earth,  the  sea,  and 
all  that  in  them  is;  and  rested  the  seventh  day: 
wherefore,  the  Lord  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and 
hallowed  it." 

At  this  point  of  our  discussion,  however,  I  am 
bound  to  observe,  that  a  distinction,  which  has 
been  long  made,  and  very  generally  adopted, 
respecting  the  nature  of  some  of  the  divine  com- 
mandments, has  had  a  very  extensive,  and,  I  hesi- 
tate not  to  say,  a  very  pernicious  effect,  in  lessening 
the  opinion  of  men,  concerning  the  obligations  they 
are  under  to  obey  that  one,  in  which  the  duties  of 
the  Sabbath  are  enjoined;  and  although  there  be 


36 

considerable  difficulties  attached  to  the  subject,  I 
shall  endeavour  to  make  it  appear,  that  too  much 
has  been  built  upon  the  distinction  in  question; 
and  that  it  is  not,  to  the  extent  which  has  been 
alleged,  founded  on  the  nature  and  philosophical 
relations  of  the  human  mind.  But  its  importance, 
as  it  affects  our  general  argument,  renders  it  neces- 
sary that  we  examine  the  grounds  on  which  it  rests, 
under  a  separate  Section. 


m 


SECTION  IV. 

Examination  of  the  grounds  on  "which  the  distinction 
between  moral  and  positive  duties  is  founded;   so 
far  as  that  distinction  affects  the  moral  obligation 
of  observing  the  Sabbath, 

The  distinction  above  alluded  to,  as  the  title  of 
this  Section  indicates,  is  that  which  has  been  insti- 
tuted between  what  are  called  moral  and  positive 
laws,  precepts,  or  institutions.  A  moral  precept, 
or  commandment,  relates  to  the  conduct  of  intelli- 
gent and  accountable  creatures;  and  is  such,  we 
are  told,  as,  independent  of  divine  revelation,  is 
recognized  by  human  reason  to  be  a  fit  rule  of 
action,  obligatory,  in  its  enactments,  on  all  man- 
kind. A  positive  commandment,  again,  it  is  said, 
is  such  as  unaided  reason  could  never  discover; 
and,  however  equitable  it  may  appear,  when  pub- 
lished, as  it  has  no  natural  connection  with  the 
ordinary  conceptions  of  the  understanding,  or  the 
ordinary  dictates  of  conscience,  all  its  importance 
and  obligation  must  be  derived  from  the  will 
of  the  Being  who  publishes  it.  Now,  of  this 
D 


38 

latter  kind,  is  the  commandment  respecting  the 
Sabbath  accounted;  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice, 
that  it  is  the  only  commandment  of  the  Decalogue 
which  is  held  to  possess  that  character.     There 
are  nine  besides  it,  and  we  have  never  heard  it 
denied,   that  they  are  morally  binding  on  all  men, 
or  that  their  reasonableness,  their  obligations,  and 
their  use,  were  discoverable  without  the  light  of 
divine  revelation.   The  fourth  commandment  stands 
alone  as  an  exception;  and  it  is  argued,  that,  with- 
out the  express  declaration  of  the  will  of  God,  we 
could   never   have   become   acquainted   with    the 
restraints    and    requirements,    which,    on    every 
seventh    day,    it    imposes   on    us.     We   have  no 
hesitation  to  say,  that  we  believe  this  last  statement 
to  be  perfectly  correct;  while,  at  the  same  time,  we 
maintain,  that  what  are  called  the  moral  precepts, 
or  institutions  of  the  law,  have  been  assigned  their 
high  rank  and  value,  at  the  expense  of  that  one, 
which  is  held  to  possess  only  a  positive  character. 
We  admit,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  appropria- 
tion of  one  day  out  of  seven,  to  the  worship  and 
glory  of  God,  which  suggests  itself  to  the  human 
mind  more  naturally  than  one  out  of  seventeen,  or 
any  other  number.  We  cannot  perceive  any  natural 
reason,  why  one  day  should  be  esteemed   more 
sacred  than  another;  neither  do  we  think,   that 
there   is   any  natural    fitness   in   one   day   above 


39 

another  for  the  discharge  of  particular  duties. 
The  human  mind,  unaided  and  unenlightened  by 
divine  truth,  cannot,  we  say,  perceive  this.  But 
we  are  strongly  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  fact  is 
much  the  same  respecting  the  greater  number  of 
those  precepts  which  are  generally  accounted 
moral;  and  the  reasons  which  thus  incline  us  to 
believe,  we  shall  endeavour,  plainly,  but  shortly, 
to  detail. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  and 
written  about  the  eternal  Jitness  of  things^  sympathy ^ 
a  moral  sense,  and  public  utility,  as  criteria,  or  tests 
of  virtue,  we  cannot  give  up  the  conviction,  that 
the  safest,  the  broadest,  and  the  most  universal 
standard  of  duty,  is  the  will  of  God.*  It  is  true, 
that  the  will  of  God,  as  it  is  contained  in  the 
revelation  of  his  counsels  of  mercy,  respecting  our 
present  and  eternal  welfare,  is  but  imperfectly 
known  in  the  world,  and  cannot,  therefore,  accord- 
ing to  the  present  state  of  religious  knowledge,  be 
universally  applied  as  the  gauge  of  human  conduct. 
It  is  true  also,  that  the  Apostle  Paul  has  said,  that 
"  the  Gentiles  who  have  not  the  law,  do,  by  nature, 
the  things  contained  in  the  law:  these,  having  not 


*  C'est  a  la  seule  idee  d'un  Dieu,  qu'il  est  facile  d'unir  toute 
la  legislation  morale,  et  le  systeme  entier  de  nos  devoirs. 

M,  Necker. 

d2 


40 

the  law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves — which  show 
the  works  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their 
consciences  also  bearing  witness,  and  their  thoughts 
the  meanwhile,  accusing,  or  else  excusing  one 
another."  But,  are  we  sure  that  these  words  apply 
to  the  Heathen  generally,  and  not  exclusively  to 
those  who  lived  before  the  publication  of  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  who  were  believers  and  worshippers  of 
the  one  living  and  true  God?  Such,  at  least,  is 
the  opinion  of  several  respectable  commentators. 
Are  we  sure,  that  not  the  idolatrous  Heathen,  who 
changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  worship- 
ped and  served  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator, 
who  is  God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever — are  here 
meant;  but  those,  who,  understanding  by  the  things 
that  are  made,  the  eternal  power  and  Godhead  of 
the  Father,  glorified  him  by  giving  him  the  honour 
and  fear  due  to  his  great  name? 

Felix  trembled  when  Paul  preached  before  him 
of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to 
come;  and  this,  we  are  told,  is  a  proof  of  the 
natural  fitness  of  the  human  mind  to  distinguish 
right  from  wrong,  and  to  suffer  reproach  and 
punishment  for  the  violation  of  virtue  and  the 
indulgence  in  vice.  But,  would  Felix  have 
trembled,  if  Paul  had  not  preached  ?  Would  he 
have  experienced  the  upbraidings  of  an  angry 
conscience,  if  Paul  had  not  reasoned  of  righteous- 


41 

ness,  and  forced  him  to  become  his  own  accuser, 
by  demonstrating  to  him,  that  his  conduct  was  as 
disgraceful  and  destructive  to  himself,  as  it  was 
unjust  and  cruel  to  others?  It  is  one  thing  to 
acknowledge  and  feel  the  obligations  of  a  moral 
law,  when  it  is  expounded  to  us  in  all  the  length 
and  breadth  of  its  character  and  consequences — 
and  quite  another  to  discover  the  law  and  the  obli- 
gations, and  to  act  upon  them,  without  any  external 
revelation  or  aid  whatever; — and  we  believe,  that, 
if  Paul  had  not  preached,  Felix  had  not  trembled; 
and  that  he  would  have  gone  on  in  extortion  and 
profligacy,  heedless  of  his  guilt,  unconscious  of  his 
danger,  and  unawed  by  any  of  the  judgments 
which  shall  hereafter  be  revealed  as  the  portion  of 
the  ungodly.  The  mind  is  very  capable  of  under- 
standing the  truth  of  many  doctrines,  and  of  assent- 
ing to  the  obligations  of  many  duties,  which,  of 
itself,  it  could  never  have  known,  felt,  or  obeyed; 
and  this  remark,  we  humbly  think,  strictly  applies 
to  the  question  before  us. 

We  must  add,  however,  in  justice  to  ourselves, 
and  to  prevent  a  false  interpretation  of  our  views, 
that  we  know  well  the  power  of  conscience  over 
the  moral  actions  of  man,  and  the  valuable  account 
to  which  it  may  be  turned,  by  a  judicious  appeal  to 
its  own  decisions,  on  all  matters  respecting  simple 
right  or  wrong;  and,  assuredly,  we  would  be  the 
D  3 


42 

last  to  advance  any  thing  which  might  tend  to 
derogate  from  the  one,  or  diminish  the  other.  But, 
on  a  question  concerning  the  general  principles  of 
duty,  or  the  moral  character  and  divine  authority 
of  particular  commandments,  we  must  not  allow 
preconceived,  or  unexamined  opinions,  to  influence 
or  determine  our  judgment.  The  power  of  con- 
science, we  hold  to  be  identical  with  the  faculty  of 
reason,  applied  to  moral  objects;  or  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  right  and  wrong,  the  merit  and 
demerit  of  human  conduct.  And  of  this,  I  pre- 
sume, it  is  needless  to  produce  any  farther  proof 
than  this,  that,  in  different  individuals,  and  different 
societies,  it  varies  in  its  decisions,  according  to  the 
previous  knowledge  and  habits  of  the  parties;  so 
that,  what  in  one  country,  is  set  down  and  repro- 
bated as  a  crime,  in  another,  is  sanctioned  and 
applauded  as  a  virtue.  If  it  were  a  faculty  of  the 
mind,  distinct  from  the  power  of  understanding, 
or  reason — if  it  were  not  dependent  for  information 
on  the  usual  channels  of  communication — if  it  did 
not  receive  all  its  impressions  of  the  character  of 
other  men's  actions,  through  the  ordinary  medium 
of  observation,  and  did  not  form  its  decisions 
respecting  all  that  passes  within  itself,  by  the  ordi- 
nary intellectual  process  of  consciousness,  and  by 
a  comparison  of  the  conduct  in  question,  with  a 
standard  of  duty,  which  experience  had  taught  it 


43 

to  establish; — we  might  surely  expect  to  find  the 
judgments  which  it  forms,  respecting  the  moral 
character  of  certain  actions,  more  uniform  and 
consistent.  If  it  were  a  faculty  of  mind  implanted 
within  us,  exclusively  for  taking  cognizance  of  the 
right  and  wrong  of  human  conduct,  and  possessed, 
within  itself,  the  means  of  intuitively  deciding 
what  was  moral  duty,  and  what  was  not — if  it  were 
the  peculiar  province  of  this  faculty  to  judge  of 
what  was  virtuous,  and  what  was  vicious,  in  the 
actions  of  men;  and  the  spectacle  of  the  one,  uni- 
formly gave  rise  to  feelings  of  disapprobation,  while 
that  of  the  former,  uniformly  produced  sentiments 
of  applause  and  delight — if,  in  fine,  it  were  the  sole 
office  of  this  faculty  to  condemn  whatever  was 
opposed  to  the  desires  and  the  dictates  of  moral 
purity,  justice,  and  truth,  apd  the  human  mind  were 
so  constituted,  that  it  must  unavoidably  suffer  pain 
on  the  perpetration  of  any  act  that  was  contrary 
to  any  of  the  principles  of  virtue; — then,  we  should 
undoubtedly  meet  with  an  universal  (or  nearly 
universal)  agreement  among  men  of  all  descriptions, 
and  in  all  situations  of  life,  respecting  the  morality, 
or  immorality  of  human  conduct.  But  nothing  is 
more  contrary  to  fact  than  this:  and  there  are  acts 
of  various  kinds,  the  commission  of  which,  will 
create  much  bitter  compunction  and  agony  in  the 
breast  of  one  man,  while,   in   that  of  another,   it 


44 

will  not  give  birth  to  a  single  uneasy  or  repentant 
feeling. 

The  conscience,  unenlightened  and  unaided  by 
the  word  and  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  a  most  unsafe 
and  fallacious  guide  on  the  great  principles  of 
duty  which  we  owe  towards  God,  and  even  towards 
man;  and  the  history  of  every  people  who  have 
been  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  divine  revelation, 
and  the  history  of  those,  too,  who  have  possessed 
the  written  record  of  the  rule  of  our  faith  and 
manners,  equally  proclaim  to  us,  that,  like  the 
power  of  reason  applied  to  the  ordinary  business 
of  life,  it  is  often  doubtful,  false,  and  capricious  in 
its  decisions.  The  violation  of  some  of  the  most 
obligatory  principles  of  duty,  on  which  the  peace 
and  well-being  of  society  depend,  but  which  are 
unproductive  of  personal  inconvenience  or  injury, 
will  be  unsparingly  indulged  by  some  men,  without 
any  remorse,  or  suffering,  whatever, — while  the 
commission  of  an  act  which  brings  on  bodily 
debility  and  disease,  will  awaken  the  most  pungent 
self-reproach  and  wretchedness.  The  profane 
swearer  is  a  monstrous  rebel  against  the  King  of 
heaven,  who  contaminates,  by  the  execrations 
which  he  heaps  on  himself  and  others,  the  society 
in  which  he  lives;  and  yet,  we  may  witness  him, 
every  day,  going  on  in  his  wickedness,  without  a 
single  apprehension  arising  in  his  breast  respecting 


45 

the  doom  which  he  has  so  awfully  imprecated  on 
himself.  When  the  slaves  of  sensual  pleasure, 
(and  they  are  numerous  and  daring  as  the  former,) 
suffer  shame  or  sorrow  for  their  unhallowed  deeds, 
is  their  repentance  the  fruit  of  a  conviction  of  their 
having  sinned  against  God,  or  of  their  having 
wasted  their  health  and  their  fortune,  and  exposed 
themselves  to  public  disgrace  and  misery?  Has  it 
not  been  entirely  owing  to  the  purity  of  sentiment 
which  the  Christian  religion  has  produced,  that 
fornication  is  now  generally  considered  as  a  breach 
of  moral  duty?  It  is  true,  it  was  prohibited  by  the 
Jewish  law,  but  under  conditions  and  penalties  of 
such  a  nature,  as  could  easily  be  evaded  or  answered 
by  a  licentious  people.  Among  the  more  gross  and 
sensual  of  the  Heathens  it  was  encouraged,  under 
the  sanction  of  the  example  of  their  false  deities; 
and  even  where  their  ideas  of  morality  were  con- 
sidered to  be  very  refined,  it  was  never  taxed  as  a 
crime,  except  when  the  marriage-bed  was  contami- 
nated, or  a  virgin's  honour  violated. 

But  I  go  on  with  my  illustration  of  the  case 
before  us,  by  asking, — Are  not  covetousness  and 
avarice  expressly  condemned  by  the  divine  law; 
and  yet,  are  they  not  indulged  by  thousands, 
without  the  least  apprehension  of  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure, and  without  the  least  apparent  conscious- 
ness of  doing  wrong? — are  not  backbiting,  lying, 


46 

drunkenness,  and  uncleanness,  distinctly  enume- 
rated among  the  causes  which  exclude  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven;  and  yet,  how  many,  most 
wantonly  and  perversely,  continue  in  their  indul- 
gence, without  any  other  uneasy  sensation  or  fear, 
than  what  their  consequences,  in  this  world,  may 
produce?  Murder,  it  is  said,  is  recognized,  in 
all  situations,  by  the  human  mind,  as  a  criminal 
and  punishable  act:  and  surely  the  shedding  of 
human  blood  is  a  startling  and  appalling  spectacle — 
but  there  are  despotic  countries,  where  the  officers 
of  power  claim,  and  exercise  the  right  of  uncere- 
moniously beheading  those  who  offend  them 
— there  are  licentious  and  depraved  countries, 
where  men  make  a  trade  of  assassination — and 
there  are  barbarous  countries,  where  it  is  reckoned 
a  public  duty  and  virtue  to  expose  the  aged  and 
the  infirm,  the  young  and  the  helpless,  to  perish 
by  the  slow  and  cruel  agency  of  famine  and  cold. — 
There  are  some  nations  where  theft,  if  it  is  dex- 
trously  committed,  is  held  to  be  rather  a  virtue  than 
a  vice — and  societies  have  been  discovered,  where 
chastity  seemed  to  be  unknown,  and  licentiousness 
openly  encouraged.  Is  not  polygamy  fraught  with 
the  most  immoral  and  pernicious  consequences, 
both  of  a  domestic,  and  social  nature? — does  it  not 
directly  tend  to  extinguish  some  of  the  best  affec- 
tions of  the  human  heart,  and  to  engender  and 


chafe  some  of  the  most  malignant  and  deadly 
passions,  and,  in  general,  to  degrade  and  brutalize 
the  species?  Yet,  can  we  say  that  it  is  recognized 
by  unaided  and  unenlightened  reason,  as  sinful  and 
hurtful,  while  we  have  such  clear  testimony  of  its 
prevalence  among  nations  destitute  of  divine  reve- 
lation; and  while  the  Scriptures,  themselves,  fur- 
nish us  with  so  many  sad  examples  of  its  practice 
among  the  patriarchs  and  the  monarchs  of  Israel? 
It  is  said,  that  the  idea  of  property  is  one  of  the 
earliest  that  is  formed  by  the  human  mind;  and, 
hence,  it  is  argued,  that  there  is  a  natural  ground  for 
the  distinction  of  the  rights  of  individuals  recog- 
nized, and  that  the  law  which  prohibits  their  en- 
croachment on  each  other's  possessions,  is  felt,  in 
all  circumstances,  to  be  binding  on  the  conscience 
of  man.  But,  if  men  had  lived  without  society, 
the  idea  of  property  had  never  been  formed; 
neither  had  the  principle  of  justice  ever  been 
recognized  or  acted  on;  and  hence,  it  must  be 
allowed,  that  that  principle  is  the  offspring  of  the 
social  combinations  and  conventional  transactions 
in  which  they  engage;  or  that  it  originated  in  some 
direct  revelation  of  the  law  of  God,  for  the  regu- 
lation of  their  dealings  with  one  another. 

I  am  carrying  this  detail  of  illustration  too  far, 
however,  and  perhaps  it  may  now  be  asked, — what 
is  the  point  which  it  is  meant  to  establish?     I 


48 

answer,  without  hesitation — to  show,  that  too  much 
has  been  built  upon  the  distinction  which  has  been 
framed,  between  what  are  called  the  moral  and 
positive  institutions  of  religion;  and  that,  so  far  as 
the  subject  of  this  Treatise  is  concerned,  it  is 
founded  on  error,  and  pregnant  with  mischief. 
We  do  not  believe  that  the  human  mind  is,  of 
itself,  capable  of  discovering  and  feeling  all  the 
obligations  of  moral  duty;  that  is,  we  do  not 
believe  that  the  bare  perception  of  what  is  good  in 
any  action,  constitutes,  in  the  estimation  of  man, 
the  obligation  to  its  performance;  or,  that  the 
perception  of  what  is  bad,  constitutes  the  obligation 
to  avoid,  or  resist  it.  There  is  no  quality  or  prin- 
ciple, belonging  to  the  human  understanding,  or  the 
human  conscience,  which  warrants  us  to  say,  that  it 
is  fitted  to  be  a  measure  of  virtue,  or  a  standard  of 
duty;  otherwise,  we  should  find,  among  the  rude 
and  the  civilized,  the  learned  and  the  unlearned 
tribes  of  mankind,  a  constant  conformity  of  senti- 
ment and  action  on  the  leading  points  of  morality. 
Now,  it  is  because  the  distinction  we  are  consider- 
ing, takes  for  granted  the  existence  of  this  quality 
or  principle,  that  we  say  it  is  founded  on  error, 
and  fraught  with  mischief.  Moral  obligation 
must  arise  from  a  higher  source  than  the  reason  or 
the  conscience  of  man;  otherwise,  we  would  witness 
an  endless  variety  of  standards  to  determine  the 


49 

character  of  the  same  actions,  and  an  endless 
conflict  of  opinions  respecting  the  most  essential 
questions  of  moral  right  and  wrong.  Moral 
obligation,  moreover,  necessarily  implies  the  idea 
of  accountability,  but  it  would  be  absurd  to  speak 
of  a  man  being  accountable  to  himself,  and  yet 
maintain,  that  the  proper  distinctions  between 
virtue  and  vice  could  be  preserved,  and  that  the 
just  and  necessary  rewards  and  punishments  would 
be  impartially  dispensed.  The  selfishness,  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  the  human  mind,  and  its  uniform 
tendency  to  interpret  its  own  decisions,  and  what 
arises  out  of  this,  its  own  actions,  favourably  to 
itself,  directly  contradict  such  an  opinion.  Our 
accountability  for  our  actions,  directly  points  to  an 
authority  superior  to  our  own  ;  and  the  rewards 
and  penalties  which  that  authority  has  associated 
with  particular  conduct,  constitute  the  moral  obli- 
gation, or  the  motives  which  should  prompt  us  to 
its  performance,  or  withhold  us  from  it. 

The  doctrine  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things,  as 
it  is  generally  understood,  and  of  the  immutable 
distinctions  of  right  and  wrong,  discovered  and 
established  by  human  reason,  as  a  rule  of  duty,  is 
calculated,  at  once,  we  think,  to  exalt  natural 
religion  above  revealed,  and  to  render  man  inde- 
pendent of  the  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God.  We 
believe,  then,  that  although  we  admit,  and  this  we 
E 


50 

most  readily  do,  that  there  is  an  eternal  fitness  of 
things,    and  an  essential   and  incommutable  dis- 
tinctionv between  right  and   wrong,   mankind  are 
not,  in  all  situations,  or  in  all  cases,  able  to  perceive 
them,  or  to  feel  the  obligations  to  their  observance. 
It  is,  undoubtedly,  the  express  appointment  of  the 
Almighty,  which  has  given  to  virtue  and  holiness  all 
that  loveliness  and  charm  which  never  fail  to  awaken 
delight  in  the  heart  of  possessors  and  spectators; 
and  it  is  the  same  cause  which  has  arrayed  iniquity, 
of  every  kind,    in  the  most  odious  forms,  to  all 
who  are  not  in  thraldom  to  its  power,  and  ren- 
dered it  the  parent  of  penury  and  wretchedness  to 
some,  and  of  moral  debasement  and  degradation 
to  all.     The  love  of  God,  and  the  love  of  man, 
are   the   foundations   of  all   religious   and   moral 
duty,  and,  when  they  are  described  or  illustrated 
to  us,  we,  at  once,  perceive  and  acknowledge,  that 
there  is  an  inherent  excellence,  or  an  eternal  fitness, 
belonging  to  them;  but,  surely,  if  this  excellence 
or  fitness  had  been  discoverable  by  human  reason, 
idolatry  or  polytheism  would  not  have  become  the 
universal  religion  of  mankind — or  the  doctrine  of 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  have  been  confined  to 
one  small  district  of  the  earth — or  rapine,  war, 
and  murder,    have   been    the    universal   trade   of 
heathen  nations.     The  history  of  the  world  has 
proved  to  us,  that  where  men  were  ignorant  of  the 


51 

one  living  and  true  God,  they  were  incapable,   by 
their  own  inquiries  or  discoveries,   of  rising  to  the 
knowledge  of  his  glorious  and    incommunicable 
attributes;  and  wherever  they  were  ignorant  of  this 
fundamental   doctrine    of   all   true   religion    and 
morality,  they  indulged,  without  restraint  or  re- 
morse, in  the  most  selfish,  licentious,  profane,  and 
cruel  actions.     A  divine  revelation,  therefore,  was 
7iecessary  to  instruct  men  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  character  of  the  Creator,  of  the  just  distinc- 
tions of  moral  right  and  wrong,  and  of  the  indis- 
pensable obligations  they  were  under  to  avoid  the 
one,  and  practise  the  other.     Public  utility  could 
not  point  out  these  obligations,  because  this,  as  a 
standard,  varies  with  the  varying  wants  and  desires 
of  different  nations  and  kindreds  of  men:  reason, 
or  conscience,  could  not  confirm  them,  because  this, 
as  a  judge,  also  varies  in  its  decisions,  according  to 
the  previous  habits  and  knowledge  of  the  individual. 
A  positive  ordinance,  or  appointment  of  heaven, 
could  alone  give  efficacy  to  the  natural  distinctions 
of  virtue  and  vice,  and  establish  their  obligations 
and  observance  on  broad  and  indisputable  grounds. 
The  will  of  God,  revealed  as  the  rule  of  our  faith 
and  practice,  can  alone  give  a  beneficial  direction 
to  the  fears  and  the  hopes  of  the  human  mind,  and 
bind  us  to  the  performance  of  the  great  duties  of 
holiness  and  justice,  benevolence  and  integrity,  and 
E  2 


52 

restrain  us  from  their  violation,  by  the  considera- 
tion of  a  future  and  eternal  retribution. 

In  this  sense,  then,  all  the  moral  duties  of  reli- 
gion are  positive:  that  is,  their  obligations  rest 
upon  an  express  statute  of  heaven;  and  their  wil- 
ful and  unnecessary  neglect,  must,  in  all  circum- 
stances, be  regarded  as  criminal  and  punishable, 
by  the  All-wise  and  Almighty  Legislator  who  has 
ordained  them. 

Nor  do  we  think  that  this  doctrine  tends,  in  the 
least,  to  destroy  the  distinction  which  exists  between 
duties  or  virtues  of  different  characters  and  degrees, 
or  that  it  places  all  crimes  on  an  equality,  in  point 
of  guilt.  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God, 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind," — this, 
said  our  Saviour,  is  the  first  and  great  command- 
ment; and  the  second,  he  added,  is  like  unto  it; 
but  it  is  not  said,  equal  to  it^ — "  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  Religion  enlightens 
and  instructs  human  reason,  but  it  does  not  outrage 
or  contradict  it.  The  shedding  of  man's  blood,  is 
a  crime  of  a  deeper  complexion  than  the  purloin- 
ing of  his  property,  and  the  law  of  God  has 
marked  and  admitted  the  distinction.  The  giving 
to  the  Lord  the  reverence  and  worship  due  to  him, 
for  the  great  and  manifold  benefits  conferred  on 
us,  is  an  act  of  primary  obligation  and  importance; 


53 

but,  even  admitting  that  all  our  duty  rests  solely 
upon  the  positive  enactments  of  heaven,  the 
unnecessary  or  wilful  absence  from  the  assemblies 
of  the  faithful,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  cannot 
be  ranked  as  a  crime  of  the  same  guilt,  or  worthy 
of  the  same  punishment,  with  that  of  fraud,  theft, 
or  murder.  The  Sabbath  may  be  sanctified  in 
private,  as  well  as  in  public:  for,  though  the  Lord 
loveth  the  gates  of  Zion  more  than  all  the  dwell- 
ings of  Jacob;  yet,  he  is  nigh  to  all  that  be  of  a 
broken  heart,  and  he  saveth  them  that  are  of  a 
contrite  spirit.  There  are  many  circumstances 
connected  with  the  most  sacred  and  important 
duties  of  life,  which  may  prevent  an  individual 
from  waiting  on  the  Lord,  according  to  his  own 
appointment,  in  the  house  of  prayer;  and,  as  the 
highest  authority  has  informed  us,  that  the  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath; 
the  very  acts  of  justice,  of  compassion,  of  mercy,  and 
charity,  which  its  observance  is  intended  to  recom- 
mend and  encourage,  may,  in  many  cases,  inter- 
fere with  the  public  celebration  of  the  external 
solemnities  of  religion,  and  imperatively  claim  a 
preference  in  the  distribution  or  discharge  of  our 
moral  duties.  In  all  circumstances,  we  believe  the 
end  is  better  than  the  means;  and,  as  there  is  an 
essential  difference  between  the  act  of  publicly 
acknowledging  our  love  and  gratitude  to  the  Most 
E  3 


54 

High,  and  living  habitually  under  the  fear  of 
offending  him,  and  cherishing  habitually  the  desire 
of  glorifying  him,  by  doing  justly,  and  loving 
mercy,  and  walking  humbly  before  him;  so  is  there 
an  equally  essential  difference  between  publicly 
appearing  in  the  assemblies,  where  prayers  and 
praises  are  offered  up  to  him, — and  the  act  of  con- 
secrating our  affections  to  the  holy  exercises  of 
devotion,  and  adjusting  all  our  thoughts,  words, 
and  deeds,  to  the  conditions  and  requirements  of 
the  divine  commandments.  There  is  a  moral  and 
positive  obligation  attached  to  all  these  com- 
mandments; that  obligation  is  derived  from  the 
will  and  decree  of  God,  and  no  one  who  values 
his  present,  but  especially  his  eternal  welfare,  will 
voluntarily  or  unnecessarily  neglect  it. 

There  is  no  inherent  excellence  in  ritual  or 
ceremonial  appointments;  nor  can  we,  by  any 
acquaintance  with  the  relations  or  fitness  of  things, 
discover  an}^  motives  which  naturally  prompt  us  to 
their  observance.  The  human  mind  cannot,  for 
instance,  perceive  any  reason  for  the  prohibition 
which  was  laid  on  our  first  parents,  in  the  garden 
of  Eden,  except  what  is  derived  from  divine 
authority;  and  the  rite  of  circumcision,  enjoined 
on  all  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  and  the  order 
for  them  to  dwell  in  booths,  during  the  feast  of 
tabernacles,  with  many  of  the  ceremonial  services 


55 

of  the  Jews,  rest  entirely  upon  the  same  foundation. 
Nor  are  we  disposed,  in  the  remotest  manner,  to 
represent  this  as  a  reason  which  is  not  strictly 
binding  on  the  understanding  and  conscience  of  all 
to  whom  it  is  addressed.  But,  when  there  is  added 
to  this,  a  reason  for  the  duty,  or  the  service  arising 
out  of  the  very  nature  of  things,  or  out  of  the  rela- 
tions which  subsist  between  the  act  we  are  called 
to  perform,  and  our  perception  of  what  is  excellent 
and  praise- worthy;  then,  there  is  a  very  strong 
additional  obligation  laid  upon  us  for  its  faithful  and 
diligent  observance.  And  here,  we  would  expressly 
maintain,  that,  for  the  discharge  of  the  require- 
ments of  all  the  commandments  of  the  Decalo^^ue, 
— of  the  fourth,  as  well  as  of  the  fifth — of  the  first, 
as  well  as  of  the  sixth, — there  is  this  additional 
obligation  laid  upon  us.  All  of  them  have  a 
moral  sanction  attached  to  them.  We  are  able, 
by  the  exercise  of  our  understanding,  to  appreciate 
the  inherent  excellence  and  the  beneficial  tendency 
which  belong  to  them  \  and  we  feel  and  acknowledge 
the  responsibility  under  which  we  lie,  for  their 
faithful  and  conscientious  performance. 

The  dedication  of  one  day  in  seven,  to  the  public 
worship  of  God — to  the  commemoration  of  his 
creating  power  and  wisdom,  and  redeeming  good- 
ness and  love, — is  not  an  act  which  reason,  of 
itself,  could  have  discovered  to  be  obligatory  on 


56 

man;  but,  when  it  is  revealed  to  him  as  a  divine 
ordinance,  its  wisdom  and  utility  at  once  recom- 
mend it,  and  we  are  constrained  to  acknowledge, 
that  it  ranks  among  the  highest  duties  imposed 
upon  us.  If  what  we  have  already  stated,  how- 
ever, be  correct,  the  very  same  character  belongs 
to  all  the  other  commandments  of  the  Decalogue; 
and  thus  the  distinction  which  has  been  made  be- 
tween the  fourth  and  the  other  nine,  is  founded 
on  error,  calculated  to  mislead  men  in  their  notions 
of  moral  obligation,  and  productive  of  very  bane- 
ful consequences  to  the  general  interests  of  rcHgion. 


57 


SECTION  V. 

Moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  proved  from  the 
primary  end  of  its  institution. 

By  referring  to  the  period  of  the  world  at  which 
the  Sabbath  was  instituted,  we  have  the  most  satis- 
factory evidence,  that  its  observance  was  enjoined 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  history  of  a  most 
important  and  interesting  event,  and  of  inspiring 
into  the  minds  of  men,  the  love  and  reverence  of 
that  Almighty  Being,  who  endowed  them  with  so 
many  exalted  capacities  of  knowing  and  serving 
him.  It  was  afterwards  revealed,  that  this  season 
of  holy  rest  should  be  celebrated  as  the  earnest  of 
an  uninterrupted  and  blissful  rest,  which  awaits 
the  righteous  in  heaven;  and,  in  search  of  which, 
this  mortal  life  has,  in  all  ages,  been  reckoned  but 
a  pilgrimage,  by  the  pious  and  patient  worshippers 
of  Jehovah.  But,  even  without  recurrinor  to  the 
period  of  the  world  at  which  its  observance  was 
first  promulgated — taking  up  the  commandment, 
in  which  it  is  enjoined,  in  a  general  point  of  view, 
so  far  from  being  inferior  in  its  obligations  to  any 


58 

other  of  the  moral  laws,  it  seems  to  us  superior 
both  in  its  sanctions  and  advantages.  And  our 
reasons  for  entertaining  this  opinion  may  be  thus 
briefly  stated. 

The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  is  the  first 
religious  duty  enjoined  by  the  Almighty  on 
man ;  for  we  regard  the  account  of  its  institu- 
tion, given  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis, 
as  tantamount  to  a  positive  command  to  devote 
it  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  his  worship  and  ser- 
vice.* Now,  the  worship  of  God,  embracing  our 
adoration  of  his  power  and  wisdom,  our  reverence 
for  his  justice  and  holiness,  our  gratitude  for  his 
goodness  and  mercy,  and  our  meek  submission 
to  the  dispensations  of  his  providence,  constitute, 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  the  religious 
duties  of  man.  His  moral  duties,  or  those  which 
relate  to  the  government  of  his  own  affections  and 
passions,  and  to  the  integrity  and  honour  of  his 
transactions  with  others,  rest  upon  these,  as  their 
natural  and  proper  foundation,  and  derive  from 
them  all  their  value  and  excellence.  The  acknow- 
ledgment of  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  one  God, 
and  of  his  supreme  and  absolute  right  to  our 
homage  and  obedience,  is  essential  to  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  obligation  of  the  duties  which 


•  See  Note  B. 


59 

bind  us  to  the  observance  of  personal  purity  and 
holiness,  and  to  the  practice  of  fidelity  and  justice, 
benevolence  and  mercy,  in  our  dealings  with  one 
another.     If  it  be  not  so,  then,  notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary,  moral  duty 
can  have  no  other  sanction  than  what  convenience 
or  expediency  may  give  it,   and  it  will  depend 
altogether  on  the  fleeting  circumstances  in  which 
man  is  placed,  whether  its  requirements  and  enact- 
ments be  complied  with,  or  not.     Whatever,  there- 
fore,   tends  to  keep   us  in  remembrance  of  our 
dependence  upon  our  Creator,   and   to  inspire  us 
with  gratitude  for  his  goodness,  and  to  confirm  our 
reverence  for  his  authority,  and  to  impress  us  with 
the  fear  of  his  displeasure — must  directly  quicken 
our  sense  of  moral  obligation,  and  lead  us  to  the 
faithful  discharge  of  all  the  duties  of  the  moral 
law.     But  it  is  the  sole  end  of  the  institution  of 
the  Sabbath,  to  preserve  and  cherish  the  feelings 
above  enumerated;  it  is  the  exclusive  design  of  its 
public  and  private  exercises,  to  commemorate  the 
creating   and   redeeming   power   of  Jehovah,    to 
remind  us  of  the  imperfections  and   sinfulness  of 
our  nature,  and  to  unite  us  in  a  sacred  fellowship 
with  the  Father  and  the   Son,   by   abstracting  us 
from  the  vanities  and  iniquities  of  the  world,  and 
awakening  and  increasing  our  desires  after  holiness, 
righteousness,  and  new  obedience.    Wherefore,  the 


60 

sanctification  of  that  day,  must  be  of  supreme 
importance  in  subduing  our  sinful  propensities;  in 
quickening  within  us  a  love  of  moral  excellence; 
and  working  in  us  a  conformity  to  all  God's 
righteous  commandments. 

But,  returning  to  the  period  of  the  world,   at 
which  the  institution  was  first  published  to   man, 
we  have  already  shown,  that  it  was  totally  uncon- 
nected   with    any    of  the  peculiar  revelations   of 
heaven,  by  which  particular  laws  and  ceremonies 
were  originally  confined  to  particular  districts  of 
the  earth,  and  intended  only  for  the  benefit  of 
particular   sets   of    people.       The    Sabbath    was 
designed  to  preserve,  among  "  all  the  families  and 
kindreds  of  the  earth,"  the  knowledge  and  worship 
of  God.     It  was  the  commemoration  of  the  visible 
exercise  of  his  attributes  of  power,  wisdom,   and 
goodness;  and  the  natural  and  direct  effects  of  its 
observance  should  be,   to  draw  forth   our  spon- 
taneous reverence  for  all  that  was  sublime  and 
awful,  our  wonder  for  all  that  was  admirable  and 
unsearchable,  and  our  gratitude  for  all  that  was 
amiable  and  endearing  in  these  perfections. 

Now,  will  any  individual  say,  that  there  is  no 
moral  sanction  accompanying  an  appointment, 
such  as  we  have  just  been  reviewing?  Will  any 
one  say,  that  what  was  made  known  to  our  first 
parent,  as  our  representative,  is  not  binding  on  us? 


61 

Or,  that  the  same  causes  of  devotion  to  God,  which 
existed  in   the  early  ages  of  the   world,   do  not 
operate   now?     Are   the   testimonies   of  creative 
goodness  less  visible,  or  less  copious  now,   than 
when  the  earth  was  only  fresh  from  the  hand  of  its 
Maker,  and  but  a  scanty  portion  of  its  surface  had 
been  trodden  by  the  foot  of  man?     Shall  we  be 
told,  that  man  is  less  dependent  upon  the  favour 
and  mercy  of  God  now,  than  when,  being  made 
upright,  he  had  not  yet  become  acquainted  with 
the  inventions  of  iniquity,  nor  been  estranged  from 
the  purity    of  feeling  and   ardour  of  enjoyment, 
which  frequent  communications  with  heaven   in- 
spired?    Is  it  not  the  bounden  duty  of  every  man, 
to  acknowledge  the  goodness  by  which  he  is  pre- 
served, and  the  bounty  by  which  he  is  fed?     And 
if  it  can  be  proved,  that  any  particular  enactment 
was  given   to  him   for  that  purpose,  is  not   that 
enactment  binding  upon  all  who  are  sharers  of  the 
same  wants  and  the  same  benefits?    Is  not  a  moral 
sanction,  which  accompanies  any  establishment,  be 
it  what  it  may,  which  is  ordained  by  God,  obliga- 
tory upon  ail  men  who  are  invited  to  the  observance 
of  the  duties,  and  a  participation  of  the  blessings 
which  are  attached  to  it;  and  will  not  the  neglect 
of  those  duties,   in   all   situations,   and  under  all 
characters,  involve  men  in  guilt,  and  most  justly 
subject  them  to  the  righteous  displeasure  of  the 
F 


62 

Most  High?  We  maintain,  that  this  is  the  legiti- 
mate deduction  from  the  neglect  of  the  Sabbath, 
with  even  the  scanty  information  we  have  of  the 
state  of  the  world,  at  the  period  to  which  we  have 
been  alluding:  and  we  go  on  to  state  and  illus- 
trate this  argument  more  fully,  because,  on  its 
clear  and  irrefragable  validity,  depend,  in  a  high 
degree,  the  perpetuity  and  universality  of  the  moral 
obligation  of  remembering  the  seventh  day,  to 
keep  it  holy. 

We  have  already  seen,  that  the  institution  and 
sanctions  of  the  Sabbath,  are  recorded,  by  the  his- 
torian of  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  as  a  divine 
appointment,  immediately  after  the  heavens,  and 
the  earth,  and  all  the  host  of  them,  were  created. 
"  For  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified 
it,  because  in  it,  he  rested  from  all  the  work,  which 
he  created  and  made."  We  shall  have  occasion  to 
notice,  more  particularly,  hereafter,  that  every  ex- 
ample of  moral  duty  bequeathed  to  us  in  the  Bible, 
and  every  act  of  religious  service,  except  what  is 
merely  ceremonial,  performed  by  one  possessing 
the  character  of  a  lawgiver,  are  equally  binding  on 
us,  as  if  they  were  enjoined  by  a  positive  precept, 
and  enforced  by  the  most  solemn  conditions. 

But,  waving  the  particular  consideration  of  this 
point  at  present,  we  hold  it  to  be  altogether  ab- 
surd  to  suppose,  that  such   an   allotment  of  the 


63 

seventh  part  of  the  week,  as  that  which  we  have 
just  quoted,  would  have  been  made  by  the  Almighty, 
if  it  had  not  been  intended  as  a  rule  for  the  public 
devotional  exercises  of  man.  It  is  altogether  im- 
possible, that  it  would  have  found  a  place  in  the 
register  of  the  very  earliest  transactions  of  the  world, 
if  it  had  not  been  meant  to  apply  to  the  condition 
of  every  people,  and  to  be  continued  as  an  ever- 
lasting memorial  of  the  power,  the  wisdom,  and 
benevolence  of  the  Creator.  There  was  no  appro- 
priation of  favours,  yet  made  or  promised,  to  any 
particular  class  of  men;  there  was  no  distinction  of 
claims,  yet  recognised,  to  the  protection  and  blessing 
of  God;  there  were  no  influences  yet  shed  upon 
them,  which  were  to  be  limited  to  certain  times  and 
certain  places;  nor  were  any  duties  yet  prescribed, 
which  were  destined  to  separate  them  into  inde- 
pendent tribes,  and  to  distinguish  them  by  peculiar 
rites  and  laws.  The  human  race,  as  yet,  consisted 
of  only  one  family ;  placed  on  a  fruitful  portion  of 
the  earth,  and  surrounded  with  every  thing  that 
was  lovely  in  contemplation,  and  delightful  in  en- 
joyment. The  Almighty  dwelt  among  them  by 
sensible  manifestations  of  his  presence ;  and  re- 
verence for  his  supreme  authority,  and  gratitude 
for  his  boundless  goodness,  must  have  been  inspired 
by  all  that  they  daily  saw  and  experienced.  His 
protecting  arm  was  ever  around  them  ;  the  splen, 
F  2 


64 

dour  of  his  attributes  was  imprinted  on  all  the  works 
they  beheld;  his  condescension  and  love  beamed 
through  all  the  communications  he  made  to  them 
of  his  will ;  and  their  feelings  of  devotion  and 
thanksgiving,  must  have  been  kept  ever  ardent 
and  active,  by  the  continual  pledges  of  his  care, 
to  administer  to  their  hopes  and  their  happiness. 
The  wants  of  the  infant  society  would  be  but  kw, 
and  they  would  be  easily  supplied.  The  rich  va- 
riety of  all  that  was  agreeable  to  their  senses  and 
their  taste,  would  leave  no  wish  or  desire  ungrati- 
fied:  and,  as  their  blessings  came  directly  from  the 
hand  of  the  Creator,  their  songs  of  gratitude  and 
praise,  would  rise  as  directly  to  the  place  where 
the  glory  of  the  Godhead  dwelt. 

This  would  be  the  constant  effect  of  what  they 
were  constantly  experiencing;  and,  as  there  was 
yet  no  interruption  to  their  innocence  and  happi- 
ness, there  would  be  none  to  the  exercise  of  their 
piety  and  love.  But  they  formed  the  embryo  po- 
pulation of  the  world.  From  them  were  to  spring 
all  the  tribes,  and  kindreds,  and  tongues,  which 
were  to  cover  and  diversify  the  wide  spread  sur- 
face of  the  earth.  Distance  from  the  scene  of 
primeval  innocence  and  holiness,  would  be  followed 
with  an  indifference  about  their  duties,  and  when, 
in  consequence  of  the  curse  pronounced  against 


65 

their  first  transgression,*  they  were  subjected  to 
the  toilsome  task  of  collecting,  from  diminished 
sources,  the  means  of  supplying  increasing  wants, 
they  would  speedily  lose  the  delicate  but  fervent 
sentiments  of  devotion,  which  bound  their  fathers 
in  fellowship  with  heaven.  Depravity  of  feeling 
would  spread  with  degeneracy  of  conduct;  and, 
where  every  one  was  engrossed  with  his  own  wants, 
all  would  become  indifferent  about  each  other's 
condition.  When  no  sense  of  dependence  upon 
God  was  experienced,  no  sensations  of  grati- 
tude for  his  goodness  could  be  awakened;  and 
when  his  name  and  his  attributes  were  not  revered 
and  worshipped,  all  desire  of  his  favour,  and  dread 
of  his  displeasure,  would  perish  from  the  heart 
and  the  life  of  man.  He  would  lose  the  hope  of 
future  happiness,  with  the  image  of  his  original 
purity ;  he  would  forfeit  the  dignity  of  his  nature, 
by  the  degradation  of  his  moral  pursuits;  and  those 
holy  inspirations  which  breathed  the  sweetness  and 
the  serenity  of  his  early  blessedness,  would  be 
swallowed  up  by  a  host  of  coarse  and  contending 
desires  after  pleasures,  which  might  nourish,  but 
which  would  never  gratify  his  passions. 

To  counteract  these  disastrous  effects,   however. 


•   Gen.  iii.   17, 
F    3 


66 

we  find  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  early  and 
solemnly  enjoined,   as  an  appointment  of  universal 
and  perpetual  obligation.    It  was,  doubtlessly,  fore- 
seen, that  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  the  true 
God  would  be  lost  or  forgotten,  as  men  receded 
from  their  original  settlements,  and  became  forget- 
ful of  their  original  habits  and  laws.     The  relative 
duties  of  society,  upon   which  all  moral  security 
and  comfort  rested,  would  lose  all  their  sanctions, 
when  the  authority  of  God  was  not  recognised  and 
venerated:    and,    hence,    it  was  provided,    by   a 
particular  statute,  that  the  public  worship  of  the 
Creator,  should  be  regularly  performed  at  periodical 
intervals,    and  that  thus  the   affections  of    men, 
being:  enlisted  on  the  side  of  devotion  to  their  com- 
mon  Parent,  that  devotion  should  give  birth   to 
mutual  esteem  and  kindness,  forbearance  and  love. 
The  dedication  of  the  seventh  day  to  holy  retire- 
ment and  rest ;  its  consecration  to  the  duties  of 
piety,  and  praise,  and  thanksgiving,  were  the  acts 
of  the  Almighty  Creator  and  Preserver  of  men, — 
and    they    were   intended    to    inspire   them    with 
reverence   for  his   Glorious   Majesty,    to  cherish 
within  them  a  sense  of  their  continual  dependence 
upon  his  bounty,  and  to  quicken  and  increase  the 
feeling  of  obligation  they  were  at  all  times  under, 
to  respect  and  obey  his  laws.     Now,  from  this,  we 
conceive,    that  there  was  something   in  the  very 


67 


nature  of  the  institution,  which  was  well  calculated 
to  ennrajje  and  interest  the  moral  affections  of 
mankind  in  favour  of  its  observance.  It  was  de- 
signed to  recal  to  their  minds  the  goodness  and 
wisdom  of  God,  displayed  in  the  creation  of  the 
mighty  fabric  they  inhabited  ;  and  to  give  excite- 
ment and  strength  to  their  gratitude,  by  affording 
them  frequent  opportunities  of  acknowledging  the 
benefits  he  bestowed  upon  them.  It  was  admirably 
fitted  to  promote  and  increase  brotherly  kindness, 
by  reminding  them  of  their  common  origin,  and 
to  banish  from  their  hearts  all  unsocial  and  ci  uel 
passions,  by  uniting  them  in  the  bonds  of  piety 
and  allegiance  to  their  common  Benefactor  and 
Father.  These  considerations,  of  themselves, 
therefore,  were  sufficient  to  recommend  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath,  as  an  appointment  of  the 
highest  utility  and  pleasure;  and  when  we  reflect, 
that  the  employments  and  the  labours  of  men, 
would  be  daily  multiplied  with  the  multiplication 
of  their  wants,  and  the  diminution  of  the  means  of 
supplying  them  ;  we  shall  readily  find  another 
f-eason  for  the  consecration  of  a  regularly  fixed 
portion  of  their  time,  to  the  purpose  of  moral  and 
religious  meditation.  When  we  reflect  farther, 
on  the  tendency  of  human  nature,  to  become  un- 
mindful of  all  that  is  pure  and  spiritual ;  to  sink 
into  an  indifference  about  all  that  is  distant  and 


68 


unseen;  to  overlook  the  importance  of  those  things 
that  are  eternal,  in  the  greedy  pursuit  after  things 
that  are  temporal ;  when  we  consider,  moreover, 
that,  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  the  positive 
laws  of  Heaven  were  few,  and  only  traditionally 
known,  we  shall  see  an  additional  reason  for  con- 
cluding, that  some  great  moral  appointment  was 
necessary,  to  collect  their  affections  from  the  way- 
ward courses  into  which  they  were  prone  to  stray, 
and  to  lead  them  to  the  cultivation  of  their  highest 
moral  excellence,  by  leading  them  to  the  study 
and  performance  of  those  duties,  in  which  their 
highest  hopes  and  ultimate  happiness  centered. 

Now,  with  the  limited  means  of  moral  know- 
ledge and  improvement,  which  were  vouchsafed  to 
the  first  generation  of  man,  we  have  no  hesitation 
to  say,  that  we  believe  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
to  have  been  intended  to  supply  the  want  of  minute 
information,  and  to  furnish  the  great  land- marks 
of  duty,  which  would  preserve  within  them  a 
habitual  reverence  for  their  common  Creator,  and  a 
habitual  esteem  for  each  other's  virtues,  and  sym- 
pathy for  each  other's  frailties.  It  was  made  known 
to  the  first  family  of  the  human  race,  as  an  enact- 
ment of  divine  authority,  sanctioned  and  recom- 
mended by  divine  example.  There  were  no  cere- 
monial accompaniments,  which  marked  it  as  only 
intended  for  certain  ages  and  countries.     It  was 


69 

communicated  to  the  father  and  the  representative 
of  mankind,  free  of  all  restrictions,  suitable  to  all 
conditions,  and  binding  upon  all  generations.  It 
was  the  earliest  statute  in  the  code  of  religious 
legislation,  and  there  is  not  one  circumstance  con- 
nected with  its  natw^e,  or  its  end,  "johich  marks  it  as 
havi?ig  yet  become,  or  as  ever  to  become,  obsolete,  or 
inefficient  in  its  provisions.  The  wants  of  men  are 
the  same  as  they  were  ever;  the  supplies  of  divine 
goodness  are  not  diminished,  either  in  their  extent 
or  their  value;  neither  are  the  claims  on  our  grati- 
tude changfed  in  their  number  or  their  force.  The 
tendencies  to  forget  the  Author  of  our  being  and 
our  happiness,  lurk  as  deeply  in  our  hearts  as  ever; 
and  it  requires,  even  now,  the  operation  of  all  the 
means  which  piety  and  devotion  can  suggest,  to 
prevent  mankind  from  sinking  into  a  deplorable 
condition  of  moral  darkness  and  degeneracy. 

All  this,  however,  we  believe,  will  be  readily 
granted  by  men,  who  provokingly  deny  the  force 
of  our  general  argument,  without  furnishing  us 
with  any  thing  like  a  refutation  of  it.  We  contend, 
that  it  is  an  appointment,  which  has  altogether  a 
moral,  and  not  a  ceremonial  character;  and  that, 
from  the  very  nature  of  its  duties,  from  the  very 
ordinance  of  heaven  by  which  it  is  enjoined,  it  has 
a  universal  and  perpetual  authority  over  the  heart 


70 

and  the  life  of  man ;  and,  after  noticing  and  answer- 
ing an  objection,  which  has  been  very  generally, 
and,  in  some  cases,  vauntingly  advanced  against 
this  view  of  the  subject,  we  shall  endeavour  to 
adduce  some  proofs  of  it  from  the  writings  of  the 
Old  Testament,  posterior  to  the  publication  of  the 
Mosaic  law. 


71 


SECTION  VI. 

Review  of  the  objections  urged  against  the  Antiquity 
and  moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath, 

There  is  a  fine  observation  of  a  late  dignitary 
of  the  Church  of  England,*  bearing  so  closely  upon 
the  very  point  we  have  been  attempting  to  defend 
and  illustrate,  that  we  cannot  deny  ourselves  the 
pleasure  of  placing  it  at  the  head  of  this  Section. — 
"  An  institution  of  this  antiquity,"  (such  as  we 
have  shown  above,  belongs  to  the  Sabbath,) 
"  could  derive  no  part  of  its  sanction  from  the 
Mosaic  law;  and  the  abrogation  of  that  law  no 
more  releases  the  worshippers  of  God  from  a 
rational  observance  of  a  Sabbath,  than  it  cancels 
the  injunction  of  filial  piety,  or  the  prohibition  of 
theft  and  murder,  adultery,  calumny,  and  avarice. 
The  worship  of  the  Christian  church,  is,  properly, 
to  be  considered  as  a  restoration  of  the  patriarchal, 
in  its  primitive  simplicity  and  purity;  and,  of  the 
patriarchal  worship,  the  Sabbath  was  the  noblest, 
and,  perhaps,  the  simplest  rite."     It  is  thus,  we 

*   Bishop  Horsley. 


72 

argue,  that  the  duty  of  publicly  solemnizing  and 
sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  is  a  duty,  as  binding  upon 
Christians,  as  any  other  duty  which  is  prescribed 
by  the  Most  High,  and,  in  its  consequences,  too, 
equally  serious  and  lasting.  But,  proceeding 
entirely  on  the  idea,  that  it  is  purely  arbitrary  and 
ceremonial,  it  is  argued  against  us,  that  no  moral 
consequences  can  attend  its  observance,  or  its 
neglect,  because  no  moral  conditions  attended  its 
first  establishment — because  its  positive  enforce- 
ment was  confined  to  one  nation,  and  to  one 
period  of  the  world — and  because,  under  the  more 
wide,  liberal,  and  equitable  dispensation  of  the 
Gospel,  all  ceremonial  rites  have  ceased,  and  all 
distinctions  in  the  external  modes  of  worship  have 
perished  with  the  circumstances  which  gave  them 
birth.  We  are  not  able  to  suppress  our  wonder, 
when  we  hear  men,  who  profess  a  reverence  for 
the  authority  of  God,  and  a  belief  in  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  arguing  in  defence  of  a  cause 
which  is  directly  subversive  of  both.  In  charity, 
we  may  ascribe  their  errors  to  a  mistaken  zeal  to 
free  our  religion  from  the  tedious  prescriptions, 
and  complicated  forms,  with  which  its  duties  have 
sometimes  been  encumbered;  but,  injustice  to  the 
cause  we  defend,  we  must  lament,  that  their  zeal 
was  not  corrected  by  their  imprudence,  when  they 
saw,  by  its  effects,  that,  instead  of  strengthening 


73 

the  pillars  of  our  faith,  they  were  undermining  the 
very  foundations  upon  which  they  were  built. 

But,  let  us  hear  how  they  have  endeavoured  to 
support  the  position,  which,  in  our  opinion,  they 
have  very  rashly  and  unadvisedly  assumed.  They 
are  aware — if  it  can  be  proved  that  the  Sabbath 
was  instituted  immediately  after  the  creation  of  the 
world — that  it  was  made  known  to  our  first  parent, 
as  the  head  and  representative  of  the  human  race 
— and  was  unconnected  with  any  of  the  ceremonial 
appointments,  which,  in  later  ages,  applied  only  to 
particular  times  and  places; — then,  the  argument 
for  its  universal  and  perpetual  obligation  is  un- 
answerable. They  have  attempted,  therefore,  to 
get  rid  of  this  difficulty  in  a  way,  which  seems  to 
us  to  correspond  exactly  to  that  which  schoolmen 
call,  begging  the  question.  They  contend,  that 
the  first  notice  of  its  establishment,  (which  is  found 
in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,)  was  inadvertently 
introduced  there,  by  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch, 
or  by  some  transcriber  of  it,  when  he  was  giving 
an  account  of  the  division  of  time  into  weeks;  and 
this  opinion  they  hold,  because  there  is  no  evidence 
from  the  subsequent  details  of  the  above  document, 
that  the  Sabbath  was  regarded  as  a  day  of  rest,  or 
of  religious  worship,  until  its  observance  was 
enjoined,  with  that  of  the  other  commandments, 
on  Mount  Sinai.  They  have  searched  the  patriar-. 
G 


74 

chal  ages  for  traces  of  its  existence;  and  because 
they  have  discovered  no  record  of  its  celebration, 
they  have  considered  themselves  warranted  to  con- 
clude, that  the  statement,  or  notice,  above-men- 
tioned, is  ante-dated,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing, 
was  the  anticipation  of  a  law,  which  was  hereafter 
to  be  published;  and,  that  there  is  no  authority  for 
its  observance, — that  there  is,  indeed,  no  proof  of 
its  being  recognised  as  a  duty,  till  it  was  solemnly 
promulgated  to  the  Hebrews,  as  they  journeyed 
through  the  wilderness. 

In  assuming  this  ground,  their  avowed  object  is, 
to  prove  that  the  Sabbath  is  an  institution  which 
was  strictly  confined  to  the  Jews;  and  that  the 
obligations  to  its  observance,  existed  only  as  long 
as  the  dispensation  under  which  they  lived,  had  the 
sanction  and  approbation  of  heaven.  To  say  the 
least  of  it,  there  is  something  not  very  fair,  or 
honourable,  in  a  critical  point  of  view,  in  this  way 
of  maintaining  an  argument;  for,  if  we  were  at 
liberty  to  conclude,  that  any  passage  of  Scripture, 
which  it  was  troublesome  to  explain,  or  which  it 
was  difficult  to  reconcile  with  some  favourite  theory 
which  we  wished  to  establish;  if  we  were  at  liberty, 
I  say,  to  conclude  that  this  was  an  interpolation, 
— that  is,  was  introduced  into  the  work  by  some 
other  hand  than  that  of  the  inspired  author,  or 
found  its  way  into  the  particular   position  it  now 


75 

occupies,  by  the  ignorance  of  some  careless  tran- 
scriber,— then,  there  is  an  end  to  all  precision  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  sacred  oracles;  and  men 
may  superinduce  upon  the  plain  and  unambiguous 
doctrines  of  inspiration,  any  explanations  whatever, 
which  may  suit  their  unbridled,  and,  perhaps, 
impure  fancy.  It  is  not,  we  think,  a  very  safe,  or 
a  very  commendable  mode  of  procedure,  to  attempt 
to  weaken,  in  any  circumstances,  the  divine 
authority  of  any  appointment  on  which  the  moral 
security  and  happiness  of  society  depend,  and  we 
ought,  certainly,  to  calculate,  very  seriously,  the 
expediency  of  our  undertaking,  as  well  as  the 
motives  by  which  we  are  influenced,  before  we 
rashly  engage  in  a  work,  which,  at  the  best,  can 
only  throw  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
weak,  and  increase  the  effrontery  and  the  impiety 
of  the  prophane.  But,  the  argument  we  are 
now  combating,  if  it  proves  any  thing,  proves  too 
much. 

It  is  true,  that,  from  the  first  promulgation  of 
the  Sabbath,  at  the  creation,  a  long  period  of 
nearly  three  thousand  years  intervenes,  during 
which,  we  hear  nothing  of  its  observance,  or  its 
sanctions.  We  read  of  men  having  multiplied 
greatly  upon  the  earth — of  having  spread  exten- 
sively over  its  surface — of  having  divided  them- 
selves into  different  tribes,  and  espoused  different 
G  2 


76 

interests — of  having  increased  in  iniquity,  as  well 

as  knowledge — and  of  having  forgotten,  except  in 

one  small  district,  all  reverence  for  the  authority, 

and  all  gratitude  for  the  goodness  of  their  Creator — 

but  in  no  condition  of  their  social  improvement  or 

debasement,  do  we  read  of  their  remembering  the 

seventh  day,  to  keep  it  holy.     We  accompany  the 

patriarchs  in  their  various  migrations  and  pursuits, 

and  amidst  all  their  veneration  of  God,  and  the 

consecration  of  their  lives  to  his  service,  we  hear 

not  once  of  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath  forming  any 

part  of  their  devotional  enjoyments  and  exercises. 

In  all  the  variety  of  fortune,  which  characterized 

the  human  race,   before  and  after  the  deluge — in 

all   the  details  of  piety  which  distinguished  the 

families  of  the  few  among  whom  the  knowledge 

and  reverence  of  the  true  God  were  preserved  and 

cherished — we   never   read    of  their   meeting   to 

devote  the  seventh  portion  of  the  week  to  a  respite 

from  their  ordinary  labours,  and  to  spend  it  in  the 

study  and  adoration  of  his  attributes,  and  the  fear 

and  obedience  of  his  laws.     But,  all   this  may  be 

easily   accounted   for,    without    recurring   to   the 

solution  which  our  opponents  have  adopted,  and, 

thereby,  rejecting  a  belief  in  the  early  institution, 

and  universal  sanction  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  records  of  the  transactions  of  the  first,   or 
patriarchal   ages   of  the  world,   are  exceedingly 


77 

brief  and  scanty  In  their  details.  They  are  con- 
fined to  a  few  families,  and  a  few  districts  of  the 
earth,  and  serve  only  as  an  introduction  to  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  people,  among  whom,  the 
Almighty  was  pleased  to  place  the  symbols  of  his 
tutelary  presence  and  glory;  and  whom  he 
honoured  to  be  the  preservers  of  his  knowledge 
and  worship,  amidst  the  wide  spread  idolatry 
which  characterized  the  other  nations  of  mankind. 
In  these  records,  we  find  no  enumeration  of  the 
duties  which  are  enforced  in  the  moral  law,  and 
which  are  universally  acknowledged  to  have  been, 
in  all  ages,  binding  upon  men;  and  as  well,  there- 
fore, might  we  contend,  that,  to  the  crimes  of 
murder  and  robbery — to  the  guilt  of  violated  faith 
and  chastity — no  moral  penalties  were  attached, 
because  no  specific  enactments  against  them  exist; 
as  to  argue,  that  no  moral  obligation  belonged  to 
the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  because  no 
special  law  is  found  confirmatory  of  its  first 
establishment.  The  silence  of  history  respecting 
any  fact  or  event,  is,  by  no  means,  a  proof  of  the 
non-existence,  or  non-occurrence  of  that  event; 
and  because  we  are  not  told  that  the  early  inhabi- 
tants of  the  world  held  the  seventh  day  sacred  to 
the  duties  of  devotion  and  meditation,  we  have  no 
reason  to  conclude,  that  the  obligations  to  do  so, 
were  either  not  felt,  or  not  obeyed.  In  the  eager- 
g3 


78 

ness  of  some  men  to  establish  their  favourite 
opinion,  they  have  stoutly  contended,  that  this 
day  never  had  any  divine  sanction  given  for  its 
observance,  till  it  received  it  amidst  the  thunders 
of  Mount  Sinai.  But,  we  beg  to  ask  them,  how 
they  will  explain  to  us  the  fact  of  the  solemn 
injunction  which  was  given  to  the  Israelites  for  its 
devout  celebration,  when  they  were  encamped  be- 
tween Elim  and  the  wilderness  of  Sin,  a  considerable 
time  prior  to  their  having  reached  the  hill  of  Sinai, 
where  the  law  was  promulgated?  This  solitary 
fact,  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  strong  voucher  for  the 
regular  observance  of  the  seventh  day,  as  a  day  of 
rest,  antecedent  to  the  date  at  which  the  moral 
law  was  communicated  to  the  Hebrews;  and 
refers  us  back  to  the  period  of  its  appointment,  as 
narrated  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.  But,  it  seems, 
this  very  fact  is  employed  by  our  opponents  as  an 
argument  against  the  perpetuity  of  the  moral 
obligation  of  this  day;  and,  on  this  account,  it  is 
necessary  that  we  briefly  examine  the  passage  in 
which  it  is  recorded. 

When  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  journeyed  from  Elim  to  the  wilderness,  they 
murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron,  saying, 
"  Would  to  God,  we  had  died  by  the  hand  of  the 
Lord,  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  when  we  sat  by  the 
flesh-pots;  and  did  eat  bread  to  the  full:  for  ye 


79 

have  brouffht  us  forth  into  this  wilderness  to  kill 
this  whole  assembly  with  hunger."*  Thus,  soon 
did  they  forget  the  manifold  and  marvellous  mani- 
festations of  divine  power  and  goodness,  exhibited 
in  their  redemption  from  the  cruel  oppression  of 
Pharaoh;  and  thus  early  were  extinguished  in 
their  hearts,  all  the  sentiments  of  love,  gratitude, 
devotion,  and  resignation,  which  these  manifesta- 
tions were  calculated  to  excite  and  perpetuate. 
Yet,  many  a  time  did  the  Lord  turn  away  his 
anger,  and  forgive  their  iniquity;  and,  in  the 
present  instance,  he  furnished  a  table  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  rained  down  manna  for  them  to  eat. 
From  the  unusual  appearance  of  this  food,  the 
people  knew  not  what  it  was,  and  while  they 
seemed  to  have  been  perplexed  about  its  use, 
Moses  put  an  end  to  their  doubts,  saying,  "  This 
is  the  bread  which  the  Lord  hath  given  you  to 
eat — gather  of  it,  every  man  according  to  his 
eating,  an  omer  for  every  man,  according  to  the 
number  of  your  persons.  Let  no  man  leave  of  it 
till  the  morning."  f  The  order  was,  however,  in 
some  instances  disobeyed;  and  we  are  told,  that  the 
surplus  quantity,  which  remained  on  the  morrow, 
became  putrid  and  unfit  for  use.  Immediately 
after  this,  it  is  added  by  the  sacred  historian,  "  It 

•  Exod.  xvi.  2,  ■>.  f  Ibid.  xvi.  15.  19. 


80 

came  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth  day,  they  gathered 
twice  as  much  bread,  two  omers  for  one  man." 
This  deviation  from  the  injunction  so  lately  given, 
excited  the  notice  of  the  rulers  of  the  congregation, 
and  they  came,  and  told  Moses.  But  Moses  said 
unto  them, — "  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath 
said,  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath 
unto  the  Lord;  bake  that  which  ye  will  bake  to-day, 
and  seethe  that  which  ye  will  seethe;  and  that 
which  remaineth  over,  lay  up  for  you  to  be  kept 
until  the  morning.  And  they  laid  it  up  till  the 
morning,  as  Moses  bade;  and  it  did  not  stink, 
neither  was  there  any  worm  therein.  And  Moses 
said.  Eat  that  to-day;  for  to-day  is  a  Sabbath  unto 
the  Lord ;  to-day  ye  shall  not  find  it  in  the  field. 
Six  days  ye  shall  gather  it,  but  on  the  seventh  day, 
which  is  the  Sabbath,  in  it  there  shall  be  none."* 

This  passage,  it  is  argued,  contains  the  first 
account  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  day 
of  public  religious  duty;  and  hence  it  is  attempted, 
to  assign  it  a  rank  exclusively  among  the  laws  of 
the  Jews,  and  to  confine  the  obligation  of  its  ob- 
servance exclusively  to  that  people.  A  fair  and 
impartial  interpretation  of  the  passage,  does  not, 
we  think,  by  any  means,  support  such  a  view. 
The  language  does  not  at  alj  bear  out  the  idea, 

»  Exod.  xvi.  23,  24,  25,  26. 


81 

that  a  new  and  unheard-of  institution  was  referred 
to.      It  points  directly  to  some  ordinance  which 
was  famih'ar  to  the  people  who  were  addressed, 
and  with  the  sanctions  and  duties  of  which  they 
were  well  acquainted.     "  This  is   that   which   the 
Lord    hath    said,    To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the 
holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord."     There  is  here  an 
obvious  allusion  to  some  antecedent  revelation  of 
the  will  of  God;  and,  in  the  conduct  of  the  people 
who  were  addressed,  we  plainly  perceive  the  com- 
pliance with  some  well-known  and  long-established 
custom.     At  the  fifth  verse  of  the  chapter  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted,  it  is  said,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  mode  of  gathering  the  manna,  "  It  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth  day,  they  shall  pre- 
pare that  which   they  bring  in,  and  it  shall  be 
twice  as  much  as  they  gather  daily."     Now  this  is 
the  injunction,  of  which  we  see  the  observance  in 
the  twenty-second  verse,  but  of  which  the  rulers 
being  apparently  ignorant  or  unmindful,  and  con- 
ceiving that  it  was  a  violation  of  the  general  order 
contained  in  the  sixteenth  verse,  in  the  execution  of 
their  official  duty ;  they  lay  a  report  of  the  transac- 
tion before  Moses.     The  answer  we  have  already 
heard.     "  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath  said, 

To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath." 
The  multitude  testified,  by  their  ready  obedience 

of  the  command  issued  in  the  fifth  verse,  that  they 


82 

were  well  acquainted  with  the  duty  of  observing 
the  seventh  day;  and  regarded  that  duty  as  possess- 
ing a  superior  authority  to  the  special  prohibition, 
about  which  the  rulers  seem  to  have  experienced 
some  perplexity, — that  they  were  familiar  with 
the  mode  of  reckoning  by  weeks,  a  mode  of  cal- 
culation, which,  we  have  formerly  shown,  must 
have  originated  in  the  consecration  of  that  day,  to 
a  cessation  from  wordly  labour,  and  to  the  exalted 
exercises  of  devotion,  of  which  we  consider  the 
passage  before  us  as  affording  a  direct  proof — "  On 
the  sixth  day,  they  gathered,  every  man,  a  double 
quantity,  because  the  morrow  was  the  rest  of  the 
holy  Sabbath."  The  plain  and  natural  interpreta- 
tion of  these  words,  fully  authorizes  us  to  say,  that 
this  was  an  institution  with  which  they  were  all 
previously  acquainted,  and  the  obligations  to  the 
observance  of  which,  they  all  fully  acknowledged. 
If  it  were  not  so,  we  must  have  heard,  or  have 
been  informed  of  something,  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  or  of  the  elders,  expressive  of  surprise,  or 
hesitation,  or  inquiry,  respecting  so  novel,  and  so 
important  an  institution;  otherwise,  the  individuals 
concerned,  must  have  been  destitute  of  ordinary 
discernment,  and  of  the  ordinary  desire  of  know- 
ledge. Grant,  however,  that  it  was,  as  we  contend 
it  was,  an  old  institution,  which  they  were  enjoined 
to  observe — and  their  ready  acquiescence  with  the 


83 

command,  and  the  absence  of  all  doubt  and 
inquiry  respecting  its  propriety  and  its  obligations, 
are  perfectly  natural,  and  most  easily  explained. 

But  we  are  not  allowed  to  rest  here.  The 
sacred  writings  inform  us,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
admonition  of  Moses,  "  It  came  to  pass,  that  there 
went  out  some  of  the  people  on  the  seventh  day 
for  to  gather,  and  they  found  none.  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How  long  refuse  ye  to 
keep  my  commandments,  and  my  laws?  See, 
for  that  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  Sabbath, 
therefore  he  giveth  you  on  the  sixth  day  the  bread 
of  two  days:  abide  ye,  every  man  in  his  place,  let 
no  man  go  out  of  his  place  on  the  seventh  day."* 
Now,  strangely  indeed,  and  most  erroneously,  as 
it  seems  to  us,  has  it  been  argued,  that  the  words 
just  quoted — "  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  Sab- 
bath," refer  to  a  new  and  positive  institution, 
formerly  unknown.  It  is  maintained,  that  the 
phraseology  applies  emphatically  and  exclusively 
to  the  Hebrews,  and  that,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  twenty-third  verse — "  This  is  that  which  the 
Lord  hath  said.  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy 
Sabbath  unto  the  Lord,"  they  furnish  a  decisive 
proof  of  the  original  appointment  of  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  the  seventh  day.     This,  we  consider  the 

•  Exod.  xvi.  27,  28,  29. 


84 

last  resource  of  a  weak  and  desperate  cause;  and 
we  are  only  astonished,  that  men  of  acknowledged 
talent  and  piety  should  ever  have  been  found 
resorting  to  it.  The  argument,  however,  carries 
its  own  refutation  along  with  it;  for,  either  the 
words,  "  how  long  refuse  ye  to  keep  my  command- 
ments, and  my  laws?"  which  immediately  precede 
the  clause,  "for  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the 
Sabbath,"  relate  to  an  old,  well-known,  and  com- 
mon practice — to  the  neglect  and  violation  of  some 
long-established  institution — or,  they  have  abso- 
lutely no  point  or  meaning.  But  we  cannot  waste 
time  in  offering  a  more  serious  or  lengthened 
answer  to  an  objection  so  frivolous  and  evanescent; 
and  if  what  we  have  very  recently  advanced, 
respecting  the  statement  in  the  twenty-third  verse, 
be  correct,  then,  the  words  now  under  considera- 
tion, cannot  be  understood  as  the  original 
announcement  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
but  must  be  taken  as  a  repetition  of  an  old  ordi- 
nance, enjoining  its  sanctification. 

"When  men,  who  have  a  weak,  or  a  bad  cause 
to  defend,  are  driven  from  one  fastness,  they 
generally  fly  to  another;  and,  rather  than  honour- 
ably relinquish  a  position  which  has  been  proved 
to  be  untenable,  they  strengthen  themselves  in 
fool-hardiness  and  obstinacy,  and  engage  in  a 
desperate  resistance,  which  only  exposes  them  to 


8^ 

defeat  and  derision.  Accordingly,  we  find  it 
alleged  by  our  opponents,  that  although  it  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  history,  yet,  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  might  be  introduced  and  enjoined 
after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  or,  as  above,  at 
the  gathering  of  the  manna.  But  this  assumption 
is  altogether  gratuitous,  and  cannot,  for  a  moment, 
be  adhered  to  by  any  who  give  the  sacred  records 
a  careful  and  candid  perusal. 

It  is  quite  absurd  to  suppose,  that  a  new  institu- 
sion,  of  so  much  importance  as  that  of  the  Sabbath, 
which  was  accompanied  with  the  solemn  benedic- 
tion of  the  Almighty  himself,  should  be  introduced 
and  announced  to  the  people,  with  all  its  claims 
of  moral  obligation,  and  yet  be  wholly  excluded 
from  its  natural  and  proper  place  in  the  regular 
history.  Those  who  assume  this  to  be  the  fact^ 
maintain  a  position,  which  every  event  and  incident 
detailed  in  the  sacred  writings,  combine  to  over- 
throw. Circumcision  and  the  passover,  are  insti- 
tutions confessedly  inferior  in  importance  to  that 
of  the  Sabbath;  and  yet,  their  first  establishment 
is  found  narrated  at  the  exact  period  of  time,  and 
along  with  the  exact  circumstances  in  which  they 
originated.  Now,  if  we  allow  that  the  institution 
of  the  Sabbath  was  unknown,  or  had  no  existence 
till  the  time  of  Moses,  then,  both  circumcision 
and  the  passover,  as  prior  in  their  appointment, 
H 


86 

might  justly  be  regarded  as  superior  in  their  moral 
sanctions  and  obligations:  and,  in  that  case,  we 
would  ask  our  opponents,  how  they  will  dispose  of 
our  Saviour's  argument  with  the  Jews,  on  this 
point — "  Moses  gave  unto  you  circumcision,  (not 
because  it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the  fathers,)  and  ye 
on  the  Sabbath-day  circumcise  a  man.  If  a  man 
on  the  Sabbath-day  receive  circumcision,  that  the 
law  of  Moses  should  not  be  broken,  are  ye  angry 
at  me,  because  I  have  made  a  man  every  whit 
whole  on  the  Sabbath-day?"  * 

It  is  manifest,  from  the  reasoning  here  employed, 
that  our  Saviour  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  an  insti- 
tution of  superior  importance,  and  of  stronger 
moral  obligation,  than  the  other  two;  and  it  is  also 
manifest,  that  the  Jews  entertained  the  same 
opinion.  Had  they  believed  it  to  be  an  institution 
of  no  higher  antiquity  than  the  time  of  Moses,  it 
could  never  have  been  a  subject  of  doubt  or  sur- 
prise, that  it  should  yield  to  the  prior  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision; nor  would  our  Saviour's  argument,  in 
that  case,  have  possessed  any  force  or  any  applica- 
tion to  the  point  at  issue. 

We  have  farther  to  observe,  however,  that,  if 
the  general  argument  of  our  opponents  proved  any 
thing,  it  would  prove  too  much — too   much,   at 


•  John's  Gospel,  vii.  22,  23. 


87 

least,  for  the  safety  of  the  doctrine  they  defend. 
We  have  already  seen,  that  it  is  chiefly  on  account 
of  the  silence,  which  has  been  remarked  in  the 
writings  of  Moses,  respecting  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  that  they  contend  it  never  had  any 
divine  authority  as  a  commandment,  until  it  re- 
ceived it  amidst  the  thunders  of  Mount  Sinai ;  and 
by  this  means,  they  imagine,  they  are  able  to  take 
away  the  general  sanction,  which  belongs  to  it  as 
a  moral  appointment.  Now,  it  is  unfortunate  for 
their  hypothesis,  that  the  evidence  for  its  truth,  is 
altogether  of  a  negative  character;  and  that,  so 
far.  from  amounting,  in  any  case,  to  a  proof,  it 
carries  not,  in  our  estimation,  the  air  of  probability. 
But  let  us  see  a  little  more  particularly  how  the 
matter  stands,  even  according  to  their  own  state- 
ment The  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  we  are 
told,  is  not  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
before  the  call  of  Abraham;  and  because  the  ne- 
glect of  it  is  not  ascribed  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
old  world,  as  a  crime,  it  is  concluded,  that  its 
institution  must  have  been  unknown.  We  have 
already  replied,  in  general  terms,  to  this  objection; 
and  we  shall  only  add,  that,  if  the  reasoning  on 
which  it  is  founded,  be  allowed  to  be  correct,  we 
may  argue  for  the  non-observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  the  non-criminality  of  its  neglect,  during  the 
long  period  of  seven  hundred  and  thirty  years, 
H  2 


88 

after  the  events  recorded  in  the  sixteenth  chapter 
of  Exodus;  or,  during  the  still  longer  period  of 
nine  hundred  years  from  the  same  date:  for  then 
only  do  we  find  the  first  direct  censure  of  the 
Jewish  people,  and  the  first  judgments  denounced 
against  them,  for  the  profanation  of  that  holy  day. 
See  Isaiah,  chapter  first,  but  particularly  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  Ezekiel. 

But,  farther,  it  is  objected,  that  the  second  chap- 
ter of  Genesis,  does  not  contain  an  account  of  the 
original  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  because  there 
is  no  record  of  its  observance,  or  of  its  neglect, 
during  the  stay  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt, 
or  during  any  other  public  emergency  of  that 
people.  It  is  answered,  that,  at  a  much  later  period 
of  their  history,  viz.  that  of  their  captivity  in 
Chaldea,  we  have  no  record  of  any  permission  for 
them  to  dispense  with  the  obligation  of  the  Sabbath; 
neither  have  we  any  account  of  their  observance 
of  it.  The  sacred  writinors  are  altogether  as  silent 
respecting  it,  in  this  case,  as  in  that  above  referred 
to.  Yet,  as  Nehemiah,  and  his  pious  coadjutors  in 
the  work  of  re-establishing  the  worship  of  God,  and 
of  reforming  the  morals  of  the  people,  solemnly 
enjoined  and  enforced  its  observance,  and  recom- 
mended, by  their  own  example,  the  duty  of  sancti- 
fying it;  it  is  impossible  to  doubt,  that  the  public 
celebration  of  the  day,  was  a  well-known,  though 


89 

neglected,  ordinance  of  the  Most  High,  during 
the  above  period.*  I  shall  only  mention,  as  a 
parallel  circumstance  in  the  cases  just  mentioned, 
that,  as  it  was  shortly  after  the  return  of  the  Jews 
from  their  captivity  in  Chaldea,  that  Nehemiah 
commanded  them  to  rest,  on  the  Sabbath,  from 
their  secular  pursuits,  and  to  sanctify  it — so  was 
it,  shortly  after  their  release  from  the  bondage  of 
Egypt,  that  its  observance  was  enjoined  by  Moses, 
on  the  occasion  of  their  gathering  the  manna: 
and  thus,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  we  may  con- 
clude, that  the  institution  was  equally  known  to 
that  people  during  their  residence  in  Egypt,  as 
during  their  captivity  in  Chaldea. 

The  brief  and  summary  details  contained  in 
the  sacred  writings,  sufficiently  account  for  the 
infrequent  mention  of  the  observance  or  non- 
observance  of  the  Sabbath ;  and  ought  to  operate 
as  a  restraint  on  the  disputatious  tempers  of  those, 
whose  zeal,  in  the  cause  of  reducing  the  moral 
obligations  of  that  holy  day,  by  shaking  men's 
faith  in  the  antiquity  of  its  establishment,  may 
lessen,  but  can  never  strengthen  their  attachment 
to  an  institution,  which  is  undeniably  the  most 
venerable,  wise,  and  beneficial,  that  the  Almighty 
ever  ordained  for  the  use  of  man.     It  is  worthy  of 


*  See  Nehemiah,  passim. 
H    3 


90 

consideration,  moreover,    that   this   institution   is 
not  mentioned  in  more  than  five  or  six  passages 
of  Scripture,  relating  to  different  events,  during 
one  thousand  years,  embracing  the  whole  period 
from  the  time  of  Moses  till  the  return  of  the  Jews 
from  the  Babylonish  captivity.     The  first  is  found 
during  the  reign  of  Saul,  (1  Chron.  ix.  32,)  nearly 
five  hundred  years  after   the  giving  of  the  law. 
The  second  occurs  at  the  time  Jehoram  reigned 
over  Israel,  and  Jehoshaphat  over  Judah,  (2  Kings 
iv.  23,)  about  six  hundred  years  after  the  above 
event.*    The  third  passage  may  be  seen,  (2  Kings 
xvi.  18,)  relating  to  a  sacrilegious  act  of  the  wicked 
Ahaz,   at  the  distance  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
years  from  the  fore-mentioned  date.     The  other 
passages,  in  which  any  notices  of  the  Sabbath  are 
recorded,   previous  to  the  above  epoch,   may  be 
found  in  chapters  Ivi.  Iviii.  and  Ixvi.  of  the  pro- 
phecies of  Isaiah;  and  these  were  written  nearly 
eight  hundred  years  after  the  death   of  Moses. 
No  other  trace  or  record  of  it  can  be  discovered 
in  the  sacred  writings,  till  after  the  return  of  the 
Jews  from  their  captivity  in  Babylon. 

If,  then,  during  so  long  a  period  as  one  thousand 
years,  when  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation  was 
increasing  in  clearness  and  fulness  of  detail,  such 

•  See  also  2  Kings  xi.  5,  et  seq. 


91 

are  the  only  passages,  in  which  we  have  any  notice 
of  the  institution  now  under  consideration,  can  it 
be  matter  of  surprise,  that,  during  the  antedeluvian 
and  patriarchal  ages,  when  its  details  are  so  brief 
and  imperfect,  we  have  no  notice  of  it  at  all? 
We  have  seen,  that,  from  the  time  of  Moses,  until 
the  time  of  Saul,   comprising  a  period  of  nearly 
five  hundred  years ;  there  is  not  to  be  found   in 
the  historical  registers  of  the  Jews,  any  traces  of 
its  observance,  or  any  rehearsal  of  its  duties,   or 
any  enforcement  of  their  obligation.     Now,  if  the 
silence  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the  first  instance,  were 
any  proof  that  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  was 
not  recognised  as  a  duty,  so  assuredly  would  it  be 
in  the  second   instance;  but  as  the  most  violent 
opponents  of  the  moral  obligations  of  this  day, 
do  not  deny  that  its  observance  was  a  duty,   and 
its  neglect  a  crime,  after  the  giving  of  the  moral 
law,    although   the  Scriptures  have  said  nothing 
about   it,    during    five  hundred   years  after   that 
event — so  we  maintain,  that  its  observance  was 
a  duty,    and   its  neglect  a  crime,    prior  to  the 
giving  of  that  law,   although  the  Scriptures  are 
silent  respecting  it  for  nearly  three  thousand  years.* 

♦  See  Note  C. 


92 


SECTION  VII. 

The  Writings  of  the  Old  Testament  furnish  the 
clearest  and  most  satisfactory  proof  that  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  had  a  morale  and  not 
a  ceremonial  obligation, 

I  SHALL  not  recur,  under  this  Section,  to  any  of 
the  arguments  already  deduced  from  the  early 
period  of  the  world,  at  which  the  ordinance  of 
Heaven  was  first  published  for  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  which  so  clearly  and  forcibly 
establish  its  universal  and  perpetual  obligation; — 
but,  confining  myself  to  those  parts  of  the  sacred 
writings  which  relate  to  the  history  of  the  Jews, 
after  their  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt, 
I  shall  endeavour  to  support  the  same  conclusion, 
from  all  the  notices  which  these  writings  exhibit  of 
the  nature  and  end  of  this  institution. 

It  is  generally  allowed  by  theologians,  that  the 
moral  law  is  summarily  comprehended  in  the 
ten  commandments,  which  were  published  to  the 
Hebrews,  amidst  the  thunders  and  lightnings  of 
Mount  Sinai;  and  we  believe,  that  all  writers  on 


93 

morality,  have  admitted  the  same  fact.  At  least, 
they  all  admit,  that  the  great  leading  points  of 
duty  which  we  owe  to  our  Creator,  to  our  fellow- 
men,  and  to  ourselves,  are  embraced  in  these 
commandments,  and  that  subsequent  revelations 
of  the  will  of  God,  and  increased  experience  and 
knowledge,  on  the  part  of  man,  hav^lled  up  all 
the  intermediate  and  minute  cases,  which  his  wants, 
or  desires,  or  claims,  in  any  of  the  above  capaci- 
ties, might  suggest.  Now,  the  moral  law  is  held 
to  be  obligatory,  in  the  most  universal  sense  of  the 
word,  on  men  of  every  age  and  every  country: 
for,  although  it  was  originally  delivered  to  the 
Hebrews  only,  there  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for 
believing,  that  it  was  not  expressly  designed  by  the 
Almighty,  that  it  should,  ultimately,  be  of  general 
application,  and  that  men  of  every  nation  should 
be  bound  by  its  conditions.  The  sanctification  of 
the  Sabbath,  is  enjoined  in  one  of  the  most  solemn 
of  all  the  commandments  which  constitute  that 
law;  and  if  the  same  reasoning  which  would  be 
held  good  in  every  other  case,  be  held  good  here, 
that  which  is  due  to  one,  must  be  due  to  all;  and 
all  mankind  must  be  under  the  same  immutable 
obligations  to  observe  and  obey  the  injunction 
contained  in  the  fourth,  as  they  are  to  obey  that 
contained  in  the  third.  Nor  do  we  think  it  is  of 
little  consequence,  to  mark  the  manner  in  which 


94 

these  laws  were  promulgated  for  the  instruction 
and  the  government  of  man.  Never  were  any  of 
the  communications  of  heaven  accompanied  with 
such  awful  and  glorious  manifestations  of  the 
divine  majesty  and  power.  The  mountain,  we  are 
told,  was  "  altogether  on  a  smoke,  and  quaked 
greatly,  because  the  Lord  descended  on  it  in  fire." 
There  were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a  thick 
cloud  encircling  it;  and,  when  the  voice  of  the 
trumpet  sounded  long,  and  waxed  louder  and 
louder,  Moses  spake,  and  God  answered  him  by  a 
voice,  saying, — "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which 
have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage. — Thou  shalt  have  no 
other  gods  before  me. — Thou  shalt  not  bow  down 
thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them;  for  I,  the  Lord 
thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate  me.  And 
showing  mercy  to  thousands  of  them  that  love  me 
and  keep  my  commandments."  Such  is  the  form 
in  which  the  Almighty  condescended  to  introduce, 
to  his  erring  and  sinful  creatures,  the  revelation 
of  those  great  moral  precepts,  which  were  intended 
to  constitute  the  perpetual  rule  of  their  conduct; 
and  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  any  circumstances 
more  powerfully  calculated  to  make  a  deep  and 
solemn  impression  on  the  mind  of  man. 


95 

But,  farther,  we  are  informed,  that  when  Moses 
was  called  up  into  the  mountain  of  Sinai,  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  abode  upon  it,  and  a  cloud 
covered  it  six  days.  "  And  the  sight  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  was  like  devouring  fire,  on  the  top  of 
the  mount,  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel." 
For  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  Moses  enjoyed 
the  singular  and  exalted  honour  of  holding  per- 
sonal communication  with  the  Most  High;  during 
which  time,  he  received  explicit  and  minute 
directions  respecting  the  materials  and  the  form  of 
the  ark,  and  the  tabernacle — the  mercy- seat,  and  the 
cherubim  of  glory  with  which  it  was  to  be  sur- 
mounted— the  table — the  candlestick — the  lamp  of 
pure  gold — and  all  the  other  vessels  requisite  for 
the  public  services  of  religion.  And  it  is  certainly 
remarkable,  that,  after  every  necessary  instriitrtien 
had  been  published  regarding  the  dress  of  the 
priests  who  were  to  officiate — the  sacrifices  they 
were  to  offer — and  the  ceremonies  they  were  to 
perform, — this  marvellous  and  splendid  manifesta- 
tion of  God's  condescension  and  kindness  to  man, 
should  terminate  with  a  most  solemn  republication 
of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath.  "  And  the  Lord 
spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Speak  thou  also  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  Verily,  my  Sabbaths 
ye  shall  keep;  for  it  is  a  sign  between  me  and  you, 
throughout  your  generations,  that  ye  may  know 


96 

that  I  ana  the  Lord,  that  doth  sanctify  you.  Ye 
$hall  keep  the  Sabbath*  therefore,  for  it  is  holy 
i^into  you^  Ev^ry  oEe  that  defileth  it,  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death:  for  whosoever  doeth  any  work 
thereon,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  amongst  his 
people^  It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the  children 
of  Israel  for  ever ;  for,  in  six  days,  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the  seventh  day,  he  rested 
a^d  vyas  refreshed."  * 

It  canniOt  fail  to  attract  the  notice  of  every  pious 
and  reflecting  reader,  that  there  is  a  peculiar 
soUcitude  displayed  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
passage  I  have  now  quoted^  for  securing  the  devout 
and  solemn  observance  of  this  holy  day :  and  the 
reasons  which  are  assigned  for  the  act,  or  the 
jajiotives  by  which  it  is  enforced,  are  of  the  most 
ej^alted  moral  and  spiritual  character.  "  Six  days 
qaay  work  be  done;  but  the  seventh  is  the  Sabbath 
of  rest,  holy  unto  the  Lord.  Wherefore,  the 
children  of  Israel  shall  keep  the  Sabbath  to  observe 
it,  throughout  their  generations,  for  a  perpetual 
covenant :  for,  in  six  days,  the  Lord  made  heaven 
ai)d  earth,,  and  on  the  seventh  he  rested.^'f  The 
qause  which  is  here  assigned  for  the  institution,  is 
altogether  independent  of  any  of  the  local  pecu- 


*  Exod.  xxxu  12—18.  f  lUid.  xxxi.  15,  16,  17. 


97 

liarities  or  ceremonial  appointments  of  the  Jews. 
It  equally  affects  and  concerns  men  of  every  age, 
and  of  every  climate,  who  believe  in  the  existence 
of  God,  and  acknowledge  the  homage  of  reverence 
and  gratitude  due  unto  him  :  and  though  the  law, 
in  which  the  observance  of  that  institution  was  so 
minutely  and  circumstantially  enjoined,  was  first 
delivered  to  that  people  only,  it  bears  upon  all 
its  conditions  and  requirements,  this  undeniable 
character,  that,  like  the  other  nine,  with  which  it 
is  incorporated,  it  was  intended  to  be  of  general 
and  perpetual  obligation,  under  every  dispensation 
of  providence,  and  in  every  age  of  the  world. 
But  this  is  a  view  of  the  subject,  which  I  have 
detailed  very  fully  above ;  and  I  shall  only  here 
add,  by  way  of  supplement,  that,  if  I  were  disposed 
to  argue  minutely  in  defence  of  the  position  I  have 
assumed,  or  to  combine  in  its  support  every  cir- 
cumstance or  fact,  furnished  by  the  sacred  wiitings, 
I  might  state  at  great  length,  that  the  two  tables 
of  stone,  on  which  were  written,  by  the  immortal 
finger  of  God,  the  words  of  the  covenant — the  ten 
commandments,  were  expressly  designed  to  serve 
as  a  symbol  of  the  perpetuity  of  their  obligation 
on  the  consciences  of  all  men,  to  whom  their 
conditions  and  requirements  apply. 

But  we   have  no  need  to  resort  to  extraneous, 
minute,  or  doubtful  sources  of  reasoning,  to  up-r 
I 


98 

hold  and  establish  our  cause.    It  rests  upon  broad 
and  stable  grounds  of  its  own,  which  no  inquiries, 
or  discoveries,  or  sophistry  of  men,  ^ shall  ever  be 
able  to  subvert  or  confute.     An  examination  of 
the  terms,  and  conditions  of  the  laws  of  the  Deca- 
logue,  will,   at  once,   satisfy  every  man  possessed 
of  just  religious  sentiments,  or  of  common  moral 
discrimination,  that  they  apply  to  the  circumstances 
of  every  i-easonable  and   accountable   being,    to 
whom  they  are  made  known ;  and,  therefore,  must 
every  reasonable  and  accountable  being,  to  whom 
they  are  made  known,  be  held  answerable  for  his 
observance,  or  non-observance,   of  their  require- 
ments.   Unlike  the  local  ceremonies,  and  temporary 
institutions  of  the  Hebrews,  the  written  prescrip- 
tions of  which  were  placed  beside  the  ark,    the 
record  of  the  ten  commandments,  the  two  tables 
of  stone,  were  deposited  within  the  ark ;  and  as 
the  ark  was  a  symbol  of  the  divine  presence,  this 
very  circumstance,    may,    without  any  straining 
of  metaphor,   or  any  unnatural  interpretation,   be 
regarded  as   a  testimony  of  their  paramount  au- 
thority, their  everlasting  importance,   and  indis- 
soluble obligation. 

But,  there  are  some  circumstances,  connected 
with  the  institution  and  observartce  of  the  Sabbath 
among  the  Jews,  which  decidedly  mark  it  as  being 
independent  of,  if  not  unconnected  with,  the  Mosaic 


99 

ritual ;  as  being,  in  fact,  universal  and  perpetual 
in  its  obligations;  and  to  these  we  shall  very  briefly 
advert.     The  fourth  commandment  runs  in  these 
words :  "  Remember  the  Sabbath-day,  to  keep  it 
holy.     Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  and  do  all  thy 
work.     But  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Lord  thy  God ;  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work, 
thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,   thy   man 
servant,  nor  thy  maid  servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor 
thy  stranger  that  is  *within  thy  gates.'^     This  last 
clause,    we  contend,    furnishes  a  strong  indirect 
argument,  for  the  universality  of  the  law  to  which 
it  is  appended.     The  strangers  who  resided  in  the 
land  of  Judea,  were  divided  into  two  classes;  and 
distinguished  by  the  names  of  Proselytes  of  the 
covenant,  and  Proselytes  of  the  gate.    The  former 
submitted  to  the  rite  of  circumcision,  and  were 
bound  to  observe  the  whole  of  the  Jewish  laws  and 
ceremonies.      The  latter  did   not  submit  to   the 
initiatory  rite  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  neither 
did  they  embrace  the  peculiar  tenets  and   rules 
which  the  Jews,    as  a  nation,    observed.     They 
simply   renounced  idolatry,  professed   their  faith 
in  the  one  living  and  true  God,  and  promised 
obedience  to  the  patriarchal  institutions  and  laws. 
Now,  it  is  to  this  class,  that  the  fourth  commandment 
alludes,  by  the  "  stranger  within  thy  gates."  He  was 
bound  to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath;   but  he  was  not 
I  2 


100 

permitted  to  eat  of  the  passover,  or  to  offer  incense, 
or  to  join  in  many  of  the  ritual  services  of  the  law. 
What,  then,  can  be  the  cause  of  this  distinction? 
Is  there,  in  the  history  of  the  case,  any  grounds  for 
it?  Can  we  point  out  a  reason  for  it,  derived 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  institution,  and  appli- 
cable to  the  character  of  the  persons  in  question  ? 
Yes.  The  passover,  and  all  the  other  ordinances 
and  rites,  to  which  the  proselyte  of  the  covenant 
was  admitted,  were  national  institutions^  and  purely 
Jewish  in  their  obligations.  The  Sabbath,  which 
the  stranger,  or  the  proselyte  of  the  gate,  who  had 
not  adopted  the  peculiarities  of  the  Jewish  religion, 
was  bound  to  observe  and  keep  holy,  was  not 
national^  hwt  universal  m  its  obligations.  It  was 
not  restricted  to  those  who  embraced  all  the  pecu- 
liar tenets  of  the  Mosaic  economy ;  but  extended 
to  every  descendant  of  Adam — to  every  rational 
and  accountable  creature,  dependent  upon  God 
for  life  and  preservation ;  and  bound,  therefore, 
by  every  consideration  of  love  and  gratitude,  to 
give  him  the  homage  of  thanksgiving  and  praise. 

Prophecy  is  a  prospective  detail  of  events  which 
are  hereafter  to  be  unfolded;  and  if  we  can  show, 
that  there  are,  in  the  sacred  writings,  any  prophetic 
declarations  bearing  upon  the  future  observance 
and  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath;  we  may,  with 
the  strictest  propriety,   plead,   that  they  afford  a 


101 

powerful  argument  in  favour  of  the  universality  of 
its  obligations,  under  every  dispensation  of  God*s 
will  and  mercy  to  man.  This,  then,  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  do,  as  briefly  as  the  importance  of  the 
case  will  permit. 

In  Psalm  cxviii.,  it  is  thus  written,  "  The  stone 
which  the  builders  refused,  is  become  the  head- 
stone of  the  corner.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing : 
it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  This  is  the  day 
which  the  Lord  hath  made :  we  will  rejoice  and 
be  glad  in  it."  It  is  universally  allowed,  that  these 
verses  are  a  prediction  of  the  rejection,  the  perse- 
cution, and  death  of  the  Messiah,  by  his  infidel 
countrymen:  and  of  his  miraculous  and  triumphant 
resurrection  from  the  grave.  The  day  on  which 
he  rose  victorious  over  the  spirits  of  darkness, 
and  spoiled  principalities  and  powers,  making  a 
show  of  them  openly,  is,  by  way  of  eminence,  called, 
"  the  day  of  the  Lord;"  and,  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  feelings,  awakened  by  the  glorious  event, 
the  Psalmist  exclaims,  "  On  it  we  will  rejoice  and 
be  glad.  Open  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousnes?. 
I  will  go  into  them,  and  I  will  praise  the  Lord." 
The  day  here  prophetically  alluded  to,  is  the  day 
on  which  the  Lord  Jesus  became  our  shield  and 
our  salvation,  on  which  prayers  were  ever  after 
to  be  offered  up,  and  praises  sung  to  the  Most 
High  ;  and  on  which  the  righteous  were  to  receive 
I   3 


102 

blessings  out  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  This  is 
the  day  on  which  Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the  dead, 
and  became  the  head-stone  of  the  corner.  It  is 
the  day  of  holy  rest,  devoted  to  the  commemoration 
of  the  marvellous  doings  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the 
anticipation  of  the  eternal  joy  and  blessedness, 
which  await  the  righteous,  in  the  land  beyond 
death  and  the  grave. 

In  chapter  Ivi.  of  Isaiah,  we  meet  with  this 
striking  and  beautiful  prediction,  which,  beyond 
all  doubt,  relates  to  the  days  of  gospel  light  and 
purity,*  when  the  privileges  and  benefits  enjoyed 
by  the  faithful,  should  be  universally  extended 
and  confirmed.*  "  Let  not  the  son  of  the  stranger 
that  hath  joined  himself  to  the  Lord,  speak,  saying, 
The  Lord  hath  utterly  separated  me  from  his 
people:  neither  let  the  eunuch  say.  Behold  I  am 
a  dry  tree.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Unto  the 
eunuchs  that  keep  my  Sabbath,  and  choose  the 
things  that  please  me,  and  take  hold  of  my  cove- 
nant; even  unto  them,  will  I  give  in  mine  house 
and  within  my  walls,  a  place,  and  a  name,  better 
than  that  of  sons  and  of  daughters:  and  I  will  give 
them  an  everlasting  name,  that  shall  not  be  cut  off. 
Also,  the  sons  of  the  stranger,  that  join  themselves 
to  the  Lord,  to  serve  him,   and  to  love  the  name 

*   Isaiah  Ivi.  3 — 9, 


103 

of  the  Lord,  to  be  his  servants,  every  one  that 
keepeth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it,  and  taketh 
hold  of  my  covenant.  Even  them  will  I  bring  to 
my  holy  mountain,  and  make  them  joyful  in  my 
house  of  prayer:  their  burnt-offerings  and  their 
sacrifices  shall  be  accepted  upon  mine  altar :  for 
mine  house  shall  be  called  an  house  of  prayer  for 
all  people.  The  Lord  God,  which  gathereth  the 
outcasts  of  Israel,  saith,  Yet  will  I  gather  others 
to  him,  besides  those  that  are  gathered  unto  him." 
It  requires  no  ingenuity  or  labour  to  prove, 
that  this  passage  of  scripture  is  strictly  descriptive 
of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man :  when  it  was  no 
longer  they,  who  worshipped  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  or  the  mountain  of  Samaria,  but  all 
in  every  climate  and  country,  who  worshipped 
God  with  a  pure  heart  fervently,  that  should  be 
accepted  by  him.  An  enlarged  knowledge  of  the 
revelation  of  mercy  and  grace  to  men ;  an  universal 
diffusion  of  the  light  of  truth  and  salvation,  are 
clearly  implied  :  and  the  period  alluded  to,  can  be 
no  other  than  that,  when  the  middle  wall  of  par- 
tition which  divided  the  Jew  from  the  Gentile,  was 
broken  down,  and  the  vail  of  the  temple  rent 
asunder,  and  the  tidings  of  peace  and  reconcilia- 
tion preached  unto  them  who  were  afar  off,  and 
to  them  who  were  near ;  when  the  law  o^  cere- 
monial commandments,  was  abrogated  and  abo- 


104 

lished  by  the  death  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ ; 
and  of  twain,  one  new  man  made  for  ever  unto 
himself.  The  public  ordinances  of  religion  were 
then  to  be  held  sacred  by  every  people;  the  divine 
sanctions  of  the  Sabbath  were  to  receive  a  glorious 
illustration,  when  the  salvation  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Lord  were  revealed,  and  the  outcasts 
of  Israel  and  the  sons  of  the  stranger  were  gathered 
unto  Christ;  when  all,  indeed,  without  distinction 
of  age,  or  of  nation,  who  kept  the  Sabbath  from 
polluting  it,  and  took  hold  of  the  covenant  of 
God,  should  be  accepted  and  blessed,  and  made 
joyful  in  his  house  of  prayer. 

Now,  the  above  is  a  prediction,  which  the  Spirit 
of  truth  would  never  have  penned,  unless  it  had 
been  true ;  and  it  cannot  be  true,  unless,  at  the 
period  of  its  accomplishment,  the  Sabbath  con- 
tinued to  be  a  divine  appointment,  and  men  were 
accepted  and  blessed,  in  observing  and  sanctifying 
it.  Under  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  but 
never  before  that,  this  prediction  has  received  an 
exact  and  glorious  fulfilment.  The  outcasts  of 
Israel  and  others,  have  been  gathered  unto  Christ. 
The  sons  of  the  stranger  have  come  from  afar, 
and  joined  themselves  unto  the  Lord  to  serve  him. 
They  have  loved  his  name,  and  kept  his  Sabbath 
from  polluting  it.  They  have  been  brought  into 
his  holy  mountain,  and  made  joyful  in  his  house 


105 

of  prayer.  Their  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings, 
the  incense  of  their  hearts,  and  the  pure  aspira- 
tions of  their  faith,  have  been  accepted  upon  his 
altar;  and  thus,  in  the  fullest  and  only  true  sense 
of  the  terms,  has  his  house  become  *'  a  house  of 
prayer  for  all  people."  The  ceremonial  law  has 
been  abolished,  but  the  moral  law  has  remained. 
The  distinction  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  and 
bond  and  free,  is  for  ever  broken  down ;  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  have  been  created;  former 
things  have  passed  away,  and  all  things  have 
become  new.*  The  work  of  redeeming,  and  of 
sanctifying  the  souls  of  men,  has  made  the  spiritual 
Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy  :  and 
during  eighteen  hundred  years,  have  the  blessings, 
foretold  by  the  most  sublime  and  evangelical  of 
all  the  prophets,  been  possessed  and  enjoyed  by 
all  who  have  kept  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it, 
and  taken  hold  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord;  for 
they  have  been  brought  into  his  holy  mountain, 
and  made  joyful  in  his  house  of  prayer. 

If  it  were  necessary  for  the  support  of  our  argu- 
ment, other  passages  than  these  now  referred  to, 
might  be  adduced  from  the  Old  Testament,  to 
give  additional  force  to  the  views  we  have  been 
illustrating.     But  we  do  not  consider  the  case  to 

*   Isaiah  Ixv.  17,  18. 


106 

stand  in  need  of  such  assistance,  and  we  forbear 
to  load  our  pages  with  long  and  tedious  quotations. 
The  Sabbath  was  instituted,  to  be  a  commemora- 
tion of  the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God, 
displayed  in  the  creation  of  the  universe;  and  of 
this  we  are  fully  informed  by  the  very  command- 
ment which  enjoins  its  observance.  Though  the 
fourth  commandment,  therefore,  was  originally 
delivered  to  the  Jews  only,  it  possesses  the  same 
claim  to  universality  of  application,  as  all  the  other 
commandments  of  the  law :  by  the  same  moral 
conditions,  then,  are  all  men  bound  to  its  ob- 
servance, and  by  the  same  rule  of  moral  justice, 
will  all  be  judged  for  the  transgression  of  it,  as 
for  the  transgression  of  any  of  the  others,  the 
moral  character  and  obligations  of  which  are  not 
disputed.  The  end  of  its  institution,  moreover, 
was  to  furnish  to  man  an  opportunity  of  advancing 
in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  holiness  ;  and  of 
this  we  have  the  most  satisfactory  proof,  from 
almost  every  notice  which  is  given  of  it  in  the 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament.  To  all  men, 
therefore,  of  every  kindred  and  climate,  its  enact- 
ments and  requirements  are  alike  interesting  and 
obligatory :  and  to  all  of  them,  also,  their  neglect 
and  violation  must  be  alike  criminal  and  punish- 
able. The  very  nature  of  the  commandment, 
indeed,  points  out  its  universality:  its  universality 


107 

clearly  establishes  its  morality:  and  this  again 
leaves  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  of  our  responsibility, 
*'  For  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  which 
I  will  make,  shall  remain  before  me,  saith  the 
Lord,  so  shall  your  seed  and  your  name  remain. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new 
moon  to  another,  and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another, 
shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the 
Lord."  * 

After  this  full,  and,  we  trust,  satisfactory,  detail 
of  those  passages  of  Scripture,  by  which  the  argu- 
ment placed  at  the  head  of  this  Section,  is  sup- 
ported, we  might,  with  safety,  leave  it  to  the 
candour  of  the  reader  to  decide,  respecting  its 
force  or  validity:  but  we  are  unwilling  to  bring  our 
illustration  to  an  end,  without  adverting  to  two  or 
three  general  facts,  which,  we  cannot  help  thinking, 
give  much  additional  weight  to  the  views  we  are 
defending. 

In  these  late,  and  enlightened  ages,  as  they 
are  called,  it  never  enters  into  the  mind  of 
any  man  to  dispute  the  moral  obligations  of  the 
commandments  which  prohibit  idolatry,  or  the 
worship  of  false  gods — the  profanation  of  the 
glorious  and  fearful  titles  of  the  one  living  and 
true  God — the  crimes  of  murder,  of  adultery,  of 

*  Isaiah  IxvL  22,  23. 


108 

theft — of  bearing  false  witness  against  our  neigh- 
bour— and  of  coveting  from  our  neighbour  what 
we  are  afraid  openly  to  plunder.  No  one  thinks 
of  denying,  that  we  are  under  moral  obligation  to 
reverence  and  worship  the  Lord  God  Almighty, 
the  maker  and  preserver  of  all  things;  and  to 
honour  and  obey  our  parents,  as  the  natural 
guardians  and  instructors  of  our  hfe;  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  promise  annexed,  our  days  may  be 
long  and  prosperous  upon  the  earth.  Now,  in 
the  very  body  of  these  commandments,  is  found  that 
one  in  which  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath  are  enu- 
merated, and  the  same  sanctions  that  belong  to 
all  the  others,  belong  to  it.  The  same  blessings 
and  the  same  punishments,  as  are  attached  to  the 
observance  or  violation  of  the  other  commandments, 
are  attached  to  the  fourth :  and  the  whole  history 
of  the  Jews,  abundantly  proves  the  punctuality  and 
rigour  with  which  they  were  dispensed  and  inflicted. 
"  Six  days  shall  work  be  done,  but,  on  the  seventh, 
there  shall  be  to  you  an  holy  day,  a  Sabbath  of 
rest  to  the  Lord.  Whosoever  doth  work  therein, 
shall  be  put  to  death."  * 

If  it  be  objected,  as  we  know  it  has  been  by 
some,  that  the  threatenings  and  penalties,  asso- 
ciated by  the  prophets  with  a  violation  of  the  duties 

*  Exod.  XXXV.  2. 


109 

of  the  Sabbath,  are  merely  of  a  temporal  nature;  and 
if  they  expect,  by  this  subterfuge,  to  shake  off  the 
obligation  to  its  public  observance,  we  can  answer, 
that,  upon  the  same  grounds,  and  with  as  good 
reason,  they  may  throw  away  the  obligation  of 
every  commandment  of  the  moral  law.  It  was  a 
peculiar  feature  of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  that 
temporal  blessings  only  were  originally  annexed 
to  the  preservation  of  its  forms,  and  the  obedience 
of  its  requirements:  and  temporal  penalties  only 
denounced  a<i^ainst  the  disregard  and  transgression 
of  its  laws.  "  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother," 
says  the  fifth  commandment,  "  that  thy  dciys  may  be 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
thee."  "  If  thou  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,"  saith 
the  prophet  Isaiah,*  "  the  Holy  of  the  Lord, 
honourable;  and  shalt  honour  him,  not  doing 
thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure, 
nor  speiikiiig  thine  own  words:  then  shalt  thou 
deliglit  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  I  will  cause  thee 
to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and 
feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father,  for 
the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 

To  the  crime  of  murder,  death  was  annexed 
by  the  law  of  Moses:  and,  upon  one  who  early 
ventured  wnnionly  to  profane  the  Sabbath,  the 
same  peimlty  was  inflicted  by  the  same  authority.f 

*    Isaiah  Iviii.  15,  14.  f    Exod.  xv.  32—37. 

K 


110 

The  same  national  calamities,  as  are  denounced 
against  the  indulgence  in  idolatry,  and  against  the 
violation  of  the  general  statutes,  which  were  pro- 
mulgated from  Mount  Sinai,  are  threatened  against 
the  transgression  of  the  Sabbath,  with  a  minute- 
ness and  a  severity,  which  almost  induce  us  to 
attach  an  importance  to  its  sanctification,  superior 
to  the  observance  of  the  other  laws  of  the  Deca- 
logue. "  Ye  shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  and  reverence 
my  sanctuary.  But,  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto 
me,  and  will  not  do  all  these  commandments,  I 
will  bring  your  land  into  desolation,  and  your 
enemies  which  dwell  therein,  shall  be  astonished 
at  it.  And  I  will  scatter  you  among  the  Heathen  : 
and  I  will  draw  out  a  sword  after  you :  and  your 
land  shall  be  desolate,  and  your  cities  waste. 
Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  Sabbaths  as  long  as 
it  lieth  desolate,  and  ye  be  in  your  enemies'  land : 
because  it  did  not  rest  in  your  Sabbaths,  when  ye 
dwelt  upon  it."  * 

Now,  if  there  should  be  the  least  scruple  in  the 
mind  of  any  of  our  readers,  to  admit  this  quotation 
as  conclusive  of  our  opinion,  from  an  idea  that  it 
may  relate  only  to  the  Sabbatical  year,  we  refer 
them  to  the  book  of  Nehemiah,  where  they  will 
find  ample  proof,  that  the  neglect  of  the  duty  of 

*  Levit.  xxvi.  2.  Z2 — 55. 


Ill 

sanctifj^ing  the  weekly  Sabbath,  brought  upon  the 
idolatrous  Jews  all  the  judgments  denounced  in 
the  above  passage.     It  was  after  the  return  of  the 
Jews  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  that  this  pious 
and  persevering  reformer  of  the  sins  of  his  country- 
men presided  over  them :  and  it  is  known  to  every 
reader  of  the  Bible,  how  dissolute  and  profligate 
their  manners  had  become.     During  a  short  visit, 
which   he  was  obliged   to   make  to   the  court  of 
Persia,  the  people,  whom  he  had  lately  persuaded 
to  renounce  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  Heathen 
deities,  and  to  renew  their  covenant  with  the  livinor 
and  true  God,  and  to  swear  allegiance  to  his  laws; 
and  to  vow  a  solemn  and  reverent  observance  of  the 
Sabbath :  during  this  short  visit,  they  forgot  the 
vows  which  were  upon  them — they  violated  all  the 
moral  and  religious  restraints  by  which  they  were 
bound — they  profaned  the  Sabbath  by  the  most 
open  and  detestable  traffic,  in   the  meanest  and 
filthiest  wares — they  withheld  from  the  Levites  the 
rightful  dues  which  belonged  to  their  office — they 
forced  them  to  desert  the  service  of  the  temple — 
and  thus,  by  the  abolishment  of  the  public  institu- 
tions and  ordinances  of  religion,   they  gained  the 
means  of  revelling  undisturbed  in  the  commission 
of  the  most  flagrant  and  odious  iniquities.    Partly 
by  expostulation,  and  partly   by  the  exercise  of 
judicial  authority,   Nehemiah   restrained  them  in 
K  2 


112 

their  career  of  profaneness  and  impiety  ;  and 
averted  from  them  the  degradation  and  punish- 
ment which  their  sins  were  rapidly  preparing  for 
them.  "  In  these  days,"  *  says  he,  "  saw  I  in  Judah, 
some  treading  wine-presses  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
bringing  in  sheaves  and  lading  asses;  as  also  wine, 
grapes,  and  figs,  and  all  manner  of  burdens,  which 
they  brought  into  Jerusalem  on  the  Sabbath-day: 
and  I  testified  against  them  in  the  day,  wherein 
they  sold  victuals.  There  dwelt  men  of  Tyre  also 
therein,  who  brought  fish,  and  all  manner  of  ware, 
and  sold  on  the  Sabbath-day,  unto  the  children 
of  Judah,  and  in  Jerusalem.  Then  I  contended 
v^ith  the  nobles  of  Judah,  and  said  unto  them, 
What  evil  thing  is  this  that  ye  do,  and  profane 
the  Sabbath  ?  Did  not  your  fathers  thus,  and  did 
not  our  God  bring  all  this  evil  upon  us,  and  upon 
this  city;"  (that  is,  the  desolation  of  the  one,  and 
the  captivity  of  the  other;)  "  and  yet  ye  bring  more 
wrath  upon  Israel  by  profaning  the  Sabbath  ?'* 

Happily  for  the  honour  and  interest  of  his 
country,  his  zealous  and  dauntless  exertions  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  away  from  the  city,  the  odious 
spectacle  of  a  mercenary  mob  of  traders,  who 
brought  forward  all  manner  of  victuals  and  ware, 
to  minister  to  the  depraved  appetites  of  its  inha- 

*  Nehemiah  xiii.  15 — 23. 


113 

bitants.  "  And  he  commanded  the  Levites,  that 
they  should  cleanse  themselves,  and  that  they 
should  come  and  keep  the  gates  of  the  city,  and 
sanctify  the  Sabbath-day."  But,  even  after  he 
had  repressed  the  outrage  which  had  been  pub- 
licly offered  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Most  High, 
he  seems  scarcely  satisfied  that  the  evil  was  removed 
or  extinguished  :  and  apprehensive,  lest,  on  a  point 
of  duty  which  he  conceived  to  be  of  the  deepest 
importance,  and  of  the  most  obligatory  nature, 
he  himself  might  not  have  exerted  all  the  requisite 
diligence,  or  not  have  obeyed  all  the  requisite 
forms,  he  thus  fervently  implores  the  divine  for- 
giveness and  favour;  "  Remember  me,  O  my 
God,  concerning  this  also,  and  spare  me,  according 
to  the  greatness  of  thy  power."  From  all  this, 
then,  we  contend,  that  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  morally  obligatory  as  to  its  duties  and  its 
penalties.  Its  duties  are  the  most  important  and 
interesting  that  can  be  propounded  to  man ;  viz, 
the  consecration  of  his  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds, 
to  the  public  worship  and  glory  of  God.  Its 
blessings  are  the  richest  and  most  enlivening  that 
can  be  addressed  to  his  hopes,  and  his  desire  of 
happiness  ;  and  its  penalties  are  the  most  fearful 
and  paralysing  that  can  affect  our  feelings  of  future 
and  irremediable  wretchedness.  "  If  ye  keep  my 
Sabbaths,  and  walk  in  my  statutes  to  do  them, 
k3 


114 

then  will  I  give  yon  rain  in  due  season,  and  the 
land  shall  yield  her  increase.  And  I  will  set  my 
tabernacle  among  you ;  and  1  will  walk  among 
you :  and  I  will  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my 
people.  But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me, 
and  will  not  do  all  my  commandments,  I  will 
appoint  over  you  terror  and  consumption,  and  the 
burning  ague,  that  shall  consume  the  eyes,  and 
cause  sorrow  of  the  heart :  and  ye  shall  sow  your 
seed,  and  your  enemies  shall  eat  it :  and  ye  shall 
be  slain  before  your  enemies.  And  they  that  hate 
you,  shall  reign  over  you,  and  ye  shall  flee  when 
none  pursueth."  * 


*  Levit.  xxvj. 


115 


SECTION  VIII. 

Moral  obligation  qflhe  Sabbath,  imder  the  Christian 
Dispensation. 

It  is  somewhat  singular,  that,  although  the  wis- 
dom and  utility  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
be  universally  admitted,  by  all  who  are  not  utterly 
destitute  of  the  true  principles  of  religion,  and 
utterly  regardless  of  the  political  prosperity  and 
the  moral  happiness  of  man,  yet  there  lurks  within 
the  breast  of  the  majority  of  our  race,  a  most  per- 
verse reluctance  to  admit  its  divine  authority,  and 
its- sacred  and  indissoluble  obligations;  and,  hence, 
its  observance  and  its  sanctification  are  contem- 
plated as  points  of  duty,  with  which  it  is  entirely 
optional  for  them  to  comply :  and  the  neglect  too  of 
which,  they  flatter  themselves,  involves  no  conse- 
quences of  a  serious  or  lasting  nature.  Were  we  to 
examine  strictly,  the  feelings  and  views  which  lead 
to  the  transgression  of  any  of  the  other  command- 
ments of  the  moral  law,  I  am  persuaded,  we 
should  find  them  to  be  similar  to  those  which  are 
the  cause  of  the  conduct  now  complained  of.    The 


116 

blasphemer,  the  drunkard,  the  covetous,  and  the 
licentious,  dismiss  from  their  minds  the  awe  and 
dread,  with  which  a  sense  of  the  divine  displeasure, 
should,  at  all  times,  be  accompanied;  and  which 
a  sense  of  the  divine  obligation  of  the  laws  they 
transgress,  is  calculated,  at  all  times,  to  awaken. 
Like  the  transgressors  of  old,  they  seek  deep  to 
hide  their  counsels  from  the  Lord,  and  their 
works  in  the  dark,  saying,  "Who  seeth  us  ?  and 
who  knoweth  us  ?  Because  sentence  against  their 
wicked  deeds,  is  not  speedily  executed,  their  hearts 
are  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil. 

But  there  is  something  more  in  the  case  of  the 
transgressor  of  the  Sabbath;  and  we  believe,  that, 
in  very  many  situations  of  life,  he  fortifies  himself 
in  the  neglect  and  disregard  of  its  duties,  under 
the  opinion  of  those  who  have  argued  against  their 
moral  obligations  and  penalties.  It  is  a  melancholy 
fact,  that  man  is  exceedingly  prone,  at  all  times, 
to  seize  upon  the  most  trivial  grounds  of  excuse, 
for  the  omission  or  violation  of  any  duty;  and  a 
serious  responsibility  surely  must  attach  to  all  who 
wilfully  or  heedlessly  lend  their  aid,  to  relax,  in 
public  estimation,  the  sanctions  which  belong  to 
any  of  the  ordinances  or  institutions  of  religion. 
We,  therefore,  regard,  as  a  serious  injury  to  the 
cause  of  morality,  the  efforts  of  those  writers  who 
have   attempted   to  subvert   men's   belief  in  the 


divine  authority  of  the  Sabbath;  and,  of  conse- 
quence, to  render  them  indifferent  about  its  duties, 
by  representing  it  as  a  mere  Jewish  appointment, 
having  no  sanction  and  no  recommendation  from 
the  author  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  The 
boldness  of  the  assertion  made  by  these  writers,  has 
supplied  the  want  of  proof;  and  as,  in  all  cases, 
we  readily  believe  that  which  we  wish  to  be  true; — 
so,  the  statement  before  us,  has  found  a  very  ready 
and  general  admission  among  all  classes  of  pro- 
fessing Christians.  The  arguments,  however, 
which  are  employed  in  its  support,  rest  entirely  on 
presumption;  and  were  it  not  that  we  know  their 
influence  to  be  very  general,  and  their  effects  very 
pernicious  to  the  moral  interests  of  society,  we 
should  not  occupy  much  time  in  their  examination. 
What  we  have  already  advanced,  might  be  regarded 
as  a  sufficient  answer ;  but  the  importance  which 
the  question  at  issue  has  assumed,  from  the  conse- 
quences with  which  it  has  been  attended,  render  it 
necessary  that  we  give  it  a  more  full  and  serious 
consideration. 

We  readily  grant,  that  there  is  not  to  be  found 
in  our  Saviour's  discourses,  any  direct  and  positive 
rule  for  the  public  observance  of  the  Sabbath;  nor 
have  any  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  left 
us  any  formal  enumeration  of  commandments  on 
that  subject: — but,  neither  have  they  given  us  any 


118 

particular  rehearsal  of  the  other  enactments  of  the 
moral  law,  or  any  detail  of  the  sanctions  belonging 
to  their  conditions,  and  of  the  consequences 
attendant  upon  their  neglect:  and  if  silence  argued 
any  want  of  approval  in  the  one  case,  so  would  it 
in  the  other.  No  man,  however,  has  ever  been 
so  daringly  profane,  as  to  charge  the  author  of 
our  religion  with  a  design  to  abrogate  the  sanctions 
of  the  moral  law;  and  we  think,  the  opinion,  that 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  has  lost  its  divine 
authority  and  obligation  under  theGospel,has  been 
very  rashly  and  erroneously  formed.  Whenever 
an  opportunity  occurred,  we  find  the  crimes  of 
idolatry,  of  swearing,  of  covetousness,  profligacy, 
and  hypocrisy,  all  pointedly  reprobated  and  con- 
demned; and  singleness  of  heart,  in  worshipping 
the  one  living  and  true  God — in  revering  his  name 
and  his  attributes — in  walking  before  him  in  holi- 
ness and  fear — and  in  keeping  ourselves  unspotted 
from  the  vices  and  corruptions  of  the  world,  fre- 
quently and  solemnly  enjoined.  We  read  often 
of  the  abuses  which  were  introduced  into  the 
public  solemnities  of  religion — we  meet  with  many 
reproofs  of  the  superstitious  ceremonies  with  which 
the  devotional  worship  of  the  Most  High  was 
deformed — but  we  nowhere  meet  with  any  precept 
or  practice  which  will  authorize  us  to  conclude, 
that  our  Saviour  meant  to  give  the  slightest  relaxa- 


119 

tion  to  the  moral  act  of  dedicating  the  seventh  day 
to  the  duties  of  piety,  and  benevolence,  and  prayer. 
In  the  most  pointed  and  severe  terms,  He  censured 
and  condemned  the  traditionary  legends — the 
ostentatious  forms — the  superstitious  and  unmean- 
ing rites  which  his  countrymen  intermingled  with 
the  worship  of  God;  because  these  were  held  as 
substitutes  for  the  substantial  and  sacred  duties  of 
religion,  and  because  their  scrupulous  observance 
was  accounted  to  confer  an  exclusive  right  to  the 
favour  and  acceptance  of  the  Most  High.  From 
such  an  opinion,  the  most  mischievous  effects  must 
necessarily  have  flowed;  and,  accordingly,  we  are 
informed,  that,  when  the  Son  of  man  appeared  on 
the  earth,  righteousness  and  true  godliness  were 
nearly  banished  from  it.  It  was  against  the  rigour 
of  popular  superstition,  therefore,  that  he  testified — 
it  was  against  the  substitution  of  the  sign  for  the 
thing  signified,  that  he  complained — and  loudly 
and  emphatically  did  he  proclaim  to  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  of  his  day,  that,  though  they  out- 
wardly appeared  righteous  unto  men,  within  they 
were  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity. — "  Ye  blind 
guides,  who  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel ! 
Ye  tythe  mint,  and  rue,  and  all  manner  of  herbs; 
and  pass  over  judgment  and  the  love  of  God. 
These  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the 


120 

other  undone."*  But  never  did  he  lift  his  voice 
against  an  institution  of  his  country,  that  was 
connected  with  the  cause  of  virtue  and  piety;  or 
give  the  slightest  countenance,  by  his  example,  to 
a  custom  or  a  practice  which  was  hostile  to  the 
celebration  of  any  of  the  public  ordinances  of 
religion.  Such  an  idea,  it  is  monstrous  to  entertain; 
and,  assuredly,  we  should  not  have  adverted  to  it, 
were  there  not  men  among  us,  at  the  present  day, 
who  unblushingly  maintain,  that,  by  directly  and 
pointedly  censuring  the  ceremonial  and  super- 
stitious observance  of  the  Sabbath  among  the 
Jews,  he  virtually  removed  the  obligations  belong- 
ing to  it  as  a  positive  commandment.  How  far 
this  opinion  is  agreeable  to  fact,  an  examination 
of  his  own  sentiments  and  actions,  as  they  are 
exhibited  to  us  in  the  New  Testament,  will  best 
enable  us  to  determine. 

The  events  of  the  life  which  he  led  on  this  earth, 
great  and  marvellous  as  they  often  were,  and  be- 
nignant and  gracious  as  they  always  were,  are 
recorded  by  his  historians  with  remarkable  simpli- 
city and  artlessness.  He  wont  about  continually 
doing  good;  and  the  humane  and  benevolent  acts 
which  he  is  represented  to  have  performed,  arose 
most  naturally  out  of  the  circumstances  in  which 

•  Luke  xi.  42. 


121 

he  was  placed.  Whenever  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented itself,  he  gave  a  direct  and  unequivocal 
sanction  to  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  by 
personally  joining  in  the  services  of  the  sanctuary, 
and  instructing  the  assembled  multitudes  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  doctrines  he  had  come 
down  from  heaven  to  reveal.  "As  his  custom 
was,"  says  St.  Luke,  "he  went  into  the  synagogue 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  stood  up  to  read."  And 
in  another  place,  we  are  informed,  that  "  he  went 
down  to  Capernaum,  and  taught  on  the  Sabbath- 
days:  and  the  people  were  astonished,  for  his  word 
came  unto  them  with  power."*  From  the  limited 
nature  of  the  details  of  his  life,  there  must  have 
been  many  of  his  actions  and  his  sayings  left 
unrecorded;  but,  it  is  gratifying  to  know,  and  it 
ought  to  satisfy  the  most  scrupulous  inquirer,  that 
enough  of  both  is  preserved  to  serve  as  a  rule  to 
us  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  practice.  There 
are  general  principles  which  we  cannot  mistake; 
and  there  are  particular  doctrines,  respecting 
which  we  cannot  be  deceived,  unless  we  bring 
to  their  examination  a  very  perverted  and  darkened 
understanding.  "  If  any  man,"  said  the  Saviour 
himself  to  his  unbelieving  countrymen,  "  will  do 
the  wiil  of  God,  he  shall   know  of  the  doctrine, 

•  Luke  iv.  31,  32. 
L 


122 

whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  it  of 
myself."  And  if,  like  new-born  babes,  we  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  we  may  grow 
thereby — if,  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  we 
strive  to  walk  as  Christ  also  walked,  we  shall  find, 
in  the  rules  of  duty  which  he  has  prescribed,  and 
the  promises  of  grace  which  he  has  vouchsafed  for 
its  performance,  all  that  is  necessary  and  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness;  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  made  perfect,  and  thoroughly  furnished  unto 
all  good  works.  In  whatever  condition,  or  at 
whatever  time,  he  is  represented  to  us,  he  is  uni- 
formly expounding  or  illustrating  doctrines  and 
duties  of  the  most  essential  and  important  character; 
and,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  Matthew, 
we  meet  with  a  declaration  of  the  purposes  which 
he  had  come  into  the  world  to  accomplish,  as  far, 
at  least,  as  regarded  the  duties  which  the  moral 
law  made  obligatory  on  all  men;  which  we  con- 
sider as  affording  an  unanswerable  refutation  of 
the  objection  of  our  opponents. 

After  he  had  been  inculcating  a  series  of  the 
most  amiable  and  beneficent  virtues,  and  holding 
out  to  the  practice  of  these  virtues,  a  variety  both 
of  temporal  and  spiritual  rewards — after  he  had 
been  informing  his  followers  of  the  important 
character  which  they  held  in  the  world,  and  the 


123 

moral  benefit  which  they  might  diftuse,  by  main- 
taining a  conduct  corresponding  to  their  profes- 
sion— he  subjoins,  for  the  general  regulation  of 
their  opinions  and  practices,  and  for  removing  all 
doubt  of  the  extent  of  the  duties  which  they  were 
required  to  perform,  "  Think  not  that  I  am 
come  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets.  I  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  For,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one 
jot  or  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till 
all  be  fulfilled."*  That  is,  (for  this  is  the  obvious 
interpretation  of  these  words,)  Think  not,  because 
I  enjoin  upon  you  a  more  spiritual  worship  than 
is  prevalent  among  your  countrymen — or,  because 
I  promulgate  to  you  purer  and  more  exalted 
doctrines  than  were  published  on  Mount  Sinai — 
that,  therefore,  I  mean  to  abrogate  the  sanctions 
of  the  one,  or  to  render  null  the  observance  of  the 
other.  Think  not  that  I  intend  to  diminish  in  the 
minds  of  men,  the  motives  to  the  obedience  of  all 
that  is  contained  in  the  moral  law — or  to  absolve 
them  from  the  obligations  of  all  that  is  commanded 
in  the  writings  of  the  prophets — or  to  take  from 
"  their  predictions  "  the  force  and  point  of  their 
application.  No:  the  spirit  of  prophecy  is  the 
testimony  of  my   claims   to   be  regarded  as  the 


*  Matth.  V.  17,  18. 
L  2 


124 

Messiah  promised  to  your  fathers:  and  I  have  now 
appeared  among  you,   to  attest,   by  my  life  and 
character,  that  it  is  to  me  all   the  prophets  gave 
witness.     I  have  appeared  among  you,  to  give  a 
body  and  reality  to  all  the  types  and  shadows  of 
the  ancient  ritual,  which  prefigured  a  better  and 
more  spiritual  dispensation,  and  to  bring  in  a  more 
perfect,  even  an  everlasting  righteousness,  which 
the  law  and  the  prophets  could  not  reach.     I  have 
appeared,  not  to  weaken,  but  to  strengthen  all  the 
moral  obligations  which  unite  men  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  which  relate  to  this  life,  and  to  that 
which  is  to  come.     In  fine,  it  is  to  magnify  the 
law,  and  make  it  honourable,  that  I  have  come  to 
reveal   the  righteousness  of  God.     It  is  to  give 
additional  sanctions  to  its  conditions,  and  additional 
rewards   to   its  obedience,    that    I   declare   unto 
you,  except  your  righteousness   shall  exceed  the 
righteousness   of  the   Scribes   and   Pharisees,  ye 
shall,  in  no  case,  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
"  Whosoever,   therefore,  shall  break  one  of  the 
least  commandments  of  that  law,  and  shall   teach 
men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven:"  i,  e,  he  shall  be  reckoned  among  the 
most  unworthy  of  all  who  profess  themselves  to  be 
my  disciples:  "  but  whosoever  shall  do  them,  and 
teach  them,  the  same  shall  be  called  great  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven:"  i,  e,  he  shall  be  reckoned 


125 

among  the  foremost  of  the  advocates  of  my  cause; 
for  he  shall  give  ornament  and  efficacy  to  all  the 
doctrines  and  duties  of  my  Gospel.  "  Do  we  then 
make  void  the  law  through  faith?  God  forbid! 
Yea,  we  establish  the  law,  for  Christ  Jesus  is  the 
end  of  the  law,  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that 
believeth." 

The  above  declaration  of  our  Saviour,  then,  we 
regard  as  a  conclusive  authority  for  us  to  decide 
respecting  the  moral  and  indissoluble  obligations 
of  observing  and  sanctifying  the  Sabbath;  and  we 
deem  it  quite  unnecessary  to  load  our  pages  with 
any  additional  quotations  in  support  of  the  position 
we  have  assumed.  His  apostles,  who  best  under- 
stood the  spirit  of  their  Master's  doctrines,  and 
most  faithfully  illustrated  them  by  their  own  con- 
versation and  practice,  followed  the  rules  which  he 
himself  observed;  "and  on  the  Sabbath-day  they 
came  to  hear  the  word  of  God;  and  they  rested  on 
it  also,  according  to  the  commandment."*  Here, 
again,  we  must  recur  to  a  remark  which  we  for- 
merly made,  and  which,  it  is  of  importance  for  us 
to  bear  in  mind,  viz,  that  every  example  of  dut}', 
and  every  form  of  public  or  private  devotion,  which 
are  recorded  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour,  are  equally 
binding  on  us,  as  if  they  were  enjoined  by  a  parti- 

*  Luke  xxiii.  56.       Acts  xiii.  42 — 44.     xvii.  2.     xviii.   4. 
L    3 


126 

cular  precept,  and  enforced  by  the  most  solemn 
sanctions.     The  authority   of  Christ  Jesus,   as  a 
moral  legislator,  was  supreme.     He  appeared,  not 
to  destroy  the  law  which  was  given  from   Mount 
Sinai,  but  to  fulfil  it;  and,  in  the   whole  of  his 
conduct,  he  illustrated  the  divinity  of  his  mission, 
by  the  spotless  rectitude  of  his  life,  and  the  unde- 
niable power  and  purity  of  his  doctrine.     Invested, 
therefore,  with   these  attributes,   all  he  did,   and 
all  he  said;  i.  e.  all  the  moral  virtues   he  taught 
and   performed — all   the  reh'gious  solemnities  he 
observed — and    all   the  public  appointments  and 
usages   he   sanctioned,    cither  by  precept  or   by 
practice,  are  alike  obligatory  on   us,  and   on   all 
men,  as  if  they  had  been  announced  to  us,  and 
impressed  upon  us,  by  the  most  express  and  autho- 
ritative accompaniments  of  the  power  and  majesty 
of  God.     We  have  already  said,   and   we  shall 
have  occasion  to  show  it  more  fully  hereafter,  that 
tlie  example  of  our  Lord's  apostles,   on   this,   and 
all  similar  points  of  public  duty,  carries  with  it, 
also,  the  recommendation  and  sanction  of  a  general 
precept.     Admitting,  then,  all  that  our  opponents 
contend  for — that  there  is  no  express  written  law 
in  the  New  Testament  for  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbaih — we    maintain,    that    we   have  what   is 
equivalent  to  it, — a  confirmation   of  the  original 
statute  which  enjoins  it — by  the  uniform  example 


127 

of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles.  That  example  was 
adopted  by  the  first  converts  to  Christianity — it 
was  followed  by  all  who  subsequently  embraced  its 
faith;  and  no  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  has 
been  more  universally  believed — none  held  to  be 
more  efficacious  for  the  growth  of  holiness,  and 
the  diffusion  of  all  the  virtues  of  the  Gospel,  than 
the  observance,  the  punctual  observance,  of  that 
commandment  which  enjoins  us  to  "remember  the 
Sabbath-day,  to  keep  it  holy." 

We  are  aware,  however,  that  another  difficulty 
has  been  started  by  the  opponents  of  the  view^  we 
defend  5  and  as  we  apprehend  that  it  has  consider- 
able weight  with  many  professing  Christians,  we 
shall  attempt  briefly  to  obviate  and  explain  it. 
Granting,  they  say,  that  a  moral  obligation  be- 
longed to  the  Sabbath  at  its  first  promulgation; 
and  that  this  obligation  continued  to  belong  to 
it,  during  the  whole  dispensation  of  the  Mosaic 
economy;  was  there  not  an  essential  change  in- 
duced upon  the  performance  of  its  duties,  when 
the  whole  institution  was  violently  transferred  from 
the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week?  If  a 
moral  efficacy  was  communicated  to  the  duties  of 
the  seventh  day,  from  the  peculiarity  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  gave  it  a  paramount  claim  to 
be  regarded  as  "  holy  to  the  Lord" — if  thesanctions 
of  religion  bound  us  to  dedicate  and  consecrate  it 


128 

to  the  service  of  God,  as  a  memorial  of  the  stu- 
pendous display  of  his  creating  power,  in  calling 
into  existence  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  all 
the  goodly  stores  of  happiness  with  which  they  are 
replenished, — are  not  these  religious  sanctions, 
and  that  moral  efficacy,  annulled  by  the  change 
which  has  been  made  upon  the  appointment,  and 
by  the  arbitrary  violation  of  the  day,  which  was 
originally  held  sacred  to  the  commemoration  of 
the  divine  goodness  and  power?  We  answer,  No. 
But  the  full  exposition  of  the  grounds  upon  which 
we  maintain  this  opinion,  must  be  reserved  for 
another  Section. 


129 


SECTION  IX. 

Reason  of  the  change  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  Seventh 
to  the  First  Day  of  the  Week, 

The  difficulties  which  are  conceived  to  belong 
to  this  part  of  the  subject,  arise  out  of  too  limited 
views  of  the  nature  and  end  of  the  institution : 
and  we  flatter  ourselves,  that,  if  the  general  prin- 
ciple on  which  it  is  founded,  were  better  under- 
stood, and  its  beneficial  tendency  better  attended 
to,  the  difficulties  in  question,  would  soon  cease 
to  give  uneasiness  or  perplexity  to  any.  It  is 
contended,  for  instance,  that,  if  the  Sabbath  was 
not  designed  to  serve  a  merely  local  and  temporary 
purpose ;  if  the  obligations  to  its  observance  apply 
equally  to  men  in  every  age,  and  every  condition 
of  society,  these  obligations  must  be  held  immutable 
as  to  the  day  which  was  ordained  under  the  Jewish 
dispensation;  and,  consequently,  the  change  of  the 
day  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  amounts  to 
a  repeal  of  the  original  statute,  and  virtually 
exempts  us  from  the  penalties  of  its  non-observance. 
He,  it  is  added,  who  instituted  the  day,   alone 


130 

possesses  the  power  or  authority  to  alter  or  abro- 
gate it ;  and,  therefore,  we  are  bound  to  reverence 
and  sanctify  it,  according  as  it  is  made  known  to 
us  in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  according  to  any 
notions  which  we  may  form  of  its  wisdom,  its 
expediency,  or  propriety.  Now,  this  is  the  very 
ground  on  which  we  wish  to  try  the  question ; 
and  we  are  confident,  that  a  fair  and  candid  exa- 
mination of  it,  will  leave  no  doubt  of  the  justness 
and  force  of  our  general  argument. 

The  injunction  respecting  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  contained  in  the  fourth  commandment, 
is  accompanied  with  the  history  and  the  reason  of 
the  institution ;  and  these  are  exactly  the  same  as 
are  given  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,  the 
original  document,  containing  the  order  for  the 
sanctification  of  the  day.  The  words  run  thus; 
"  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  sanctified  it: 
because,  that  in  it,  He  rested  from  all  his  work, 
which  God  created  and  made."  *  "  Remember  f 
the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy.  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labour  and  do  all  thy  work.  But  the  seventh 
day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God :  in  it,  thou 
shalt  not  do  any  work;  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter,  &c.  For,  in  six  days,  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is, 

*  Gen.  ii  3.  f  Exod.  xx.  8—11. 


131 

and  rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore,  the  Lord 
blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  hallowed  it."  The 
import  of  the  words,  "  God  blessed  the  seventh 
day,  and  sanctified  it,"  as  we  have  shown  in  a 
preceding  Section,  is  evidently  this,  God  sepa- 
rated and  distinguished  it  from  the  other  six,  by 
appropriating  it  to  religious  exercises  on  the  part 
of  man  :  and  by  engaging,  on  his  own  part,  to 
accept  the  homage  and  worship,  which,  on  that 
day,  man  should  offer  unto  him.  The  promise 
of  a  special  blessing  is  annexed  to  the  discharge  of 
a  duty — that  duty  is  the  public  acknowledgment 
of  our  love,  our  gratitude,  and  our  obedience 
to  our  Creator ;  and,  independent  of  age,  rank, 
or  kindred,  it  is  morally  binding  on  the  whole 
human  race. 

But,  it  is  of  importance  to  observe,  that,  as  the 
institution  is  recorded  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of 
Exodus,  it  clearly  consists  of  two  parts,  viz.  the 
Sabbath^*  or  holy  rest ;  and  the  day  on  which  it 
was  to  be  observed.  These  two  points,  it  is 
humbly  submitted,  are  held  out  as  distinct  objects 
of  consideration,  in  the  words  "  the  Lord  rested 
the  seventh  day  ;  and  blessed  the  Sabbath-day,  and 
hallowed  it."  (Exod.  xx.  11.)  The  Sabbath  is 
the  institution — the  seventh  day  is  the  period  of  its 

*  The  word  Sabbath,  in  the  Hebrew  language,  signifies  rest. 


13£ 

observance.  The  Sabbath,  therefore,  may  be 
immutable  in  its  moral  obligations  as  a  duty,  with- 
out at  all  being  immutable,  as  to  the  day  of  its 
solemnization.  The  portion  of  time  to  be  appro- 
priated to  the  performance  of  its  duties,  is  fixed ; 
but  it  does  not  follow  from  this,  that  the  particular 
period  of  appropriation  is  fixed.  The  Sabbath,  as 
an  institution,  is  perfectly  distinct  from  the  day  on 
which  it  is  to  be  observed;  and  while  we  can  conceive 
that  the  moral  sanctions  of  the  institution  itself, 
are  unchangeable,  we  can  easily  conceive,  that  the 
blessings  promised  to  its  observance,  might  be 
attached  to  any  one  of  the  other  seven  days  of  the 
week.  One  day  in  seven,  must  be  held  sacred  to 
the  Lord :  but  the  day  may  be  changed  without 
the  institution  being  in  the  least  degree  affected — 
the  original  appointment  may  remain  in  full  force, 
while  successive  alterations  may  be  induced  on  the 
specific  time  of  its  observance.  There  is  no  ne- 
cessary connection  between  the  institution  and  the 
day  ;  and  the  Sabbath  may  continue  the  same,  in 
full  force  as  a  moral  duty,  eternal  in  its  sanctions 
and  its  penalties,  whatever  be  the  day  of  its  cele- 
bration :  because,  the  observance  of  a  day  is  a 
thing  altogether  dependent  on  circumstances,  and 
possesses  no  other  importance,  than  that  which 
circumstances  assign  to  it. 

Still,  however,  while  we  thus  contend  for  the 


138 

institution,  as  an  appointment  substantively  distinct 
from  the  day  allotted  for  its  observance,  we  are 
perfectly  satisfied,  that  no  change  can  warrantably 
be  made  on  the  day,  except  by  the  express  au- 
thority of  Him  by  whom  it  was  ordained.  The 
two  are  so  linked  together,  that  any  unnecessary, 
arbitrary,  or  wanton  liberty  taken  with  the  latter, 
might  prove  fatal  to  the  former.  We  ought  to 
remember,  that  the  same  authority  which  instituted 
the  Sabbath,  or  season  of  holy  rest  to  man,  insti- 
tuted also  the  day,  on  which  it  was  to  be  held ; 
and  that  no  other  authority  is  competent  to  intro- 
duce any  change  on  either.  If,  then,  we  cannot 
find,  in  the  sacred  writings,  any  proof  of  the 
abrogation  of  the  original  day,  any  evidence  of 
the  substitution  of  a  new  day,  or  any  reasons  for 
it — the  original  one  must  remain  in  full  force,  and 
its  observance  must  be  obligatory  on  all  mankind. 
Without  dwelling  long  on  the  early  period  of 
the  institution,  I  have  simply  to  observe,  that, 
from  the  scanty  historical  details  which  we  have 
of  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain,  whether  or  not  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  the 
seventh  day,  in  regular  succession,  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  :  and  therefore,  it  is  impossible 
to  determine,  whether  it  was  the  precise  day  which 
God  blessed  and  sanctified,  when  he  rested  from 
his  works.  Now,  it  must  be  obvious,  to  every  per 
M 


134 

son  of  ordinary  understanding,  that  this  point 
must  be  clearly  established,  before  any  opinion 
respecting  the  immutability  of  the  day,  can  be 
allowed  to  possess  any  weight  or  influence,  over 
the  judgment  or  conscience  of  man.  But  this 
point,  it  is  impossible  to  establish  on  satisfactory 
or  indisputable  grounds,  and,  consequently,  the 
objections  of  those,  who,  on  this  account,  deny  the 
obligations  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  lose  all  their 
validity  and  force  of  application. 

It  has  been  supposed,  with  much  plausibility, 
that  a  change  was  introduced  by  Moses  in  the 
wilderness;  and  that  the  day  which  was  kept  as  a 
Sabbath,  in  the  patriarchal  ages,  and  which  cor- 
responded to  that  which  God  had  originally 
hallowed,  and  set  apart  for  religious  exercises, 
was  transferred  to  the  day  on  which  the  Israelites 
left  Egypt;  thus  providing  for  the  future  com- 
memoration of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
glorious  events  in  their  history.  This,  however, 
although  very  probable,  is  entirely  matter  of  con- 
jecture. The  Scriptures  furnish  no  evidence  of  its 
reality,  and,  therefore,  it  would  be  unwise  and  unsafe 
to  build  any  opinion  or  argument  upon  it.  We  have 
already  said,  that  the  original  law  of  the  Sabbath 
provides  for  the  consecration  of  one  day  in  seven 
to  the  worship  and  service  of  God;  and  the  power, 
wisdom,  and  goodness,  displayed  in  the  creation. 


135 

were  the  subjects  of  men's  thanksgiving  and  praise. 
In  subsequent  ages,  the  Jews  commemorated,  along 
with  the  wonders  of  creating  power,  their  political 
incorporation  as  a  nation,  out  of  the  family  of 
Abraham,  and  their  deliverance  from  the  bondage 
of  Egypt.  While,  in  common  with  the  Jews, 
Christians  commemorate  the  common  blessings  of 
creation,  they  have  also  to  celebrate  the  great  and 
eternal  blessings  of  redemption:  whereby  they  are 
begotten  to  the  hope  of  an  inheritance  that  is  in- 
corruptible, and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away?  and  of  which,  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  from  the  grave  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  is  an  earnest  and  pledge. 

There  is,  therefore,  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
subject,  ground  to  suppose,  that  the  day  of  holy 
rest,  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  might  be 
different  from  that  which  was  originally  appointed. 
And  there  are  many  circumstances  and  facts  de- 
tailed in  the  sacred  writings,  which  give,  not  merely 
a  high  probability,  but  absolute  certainty  to  this 
opinion.  The  work  of  man's  redemption  is 
expressly  styled,  a  iieiio  creation;  and,  as  it  is  a 
work  which  gave  a  new,  and  more  glorious  illus- 
tration of  the  divine  attributes  than  the  first 
creation  displayed,  and  furnishes  more  copious 
matter  of  love,  gratitude,  and  praise  to  men; 
surely  it  is  worthy  of  being  commemorated  by  them 
M  2 


136 

with  the  highest  reverence  and  respect.  St.  Paul 
expressly  assigns  to  the  Son,  the  agency  in  the 
work  of  the  first  creation,  by  applying  to  him  the 
Psalmist's  ascription  of  eternal  existence,  and 
infinite  power,  and  glory.  "  Thy  throne,  O  God, 
is  for  ever  and  ever:  a  sceptre  of  righteousness  is 
the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom.  Thou,  Lord,  in  the 
beginning,  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth, 
and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  thine  hands.  They 
shall  perish,  but  thou  remainest;  and  they  all 
shall  wax  old,  as  doth  a  garment.  And  as  a 
vesture  shalt  thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be 
changed,  but  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years 
shall  not  fail."*  The  second  creation  also,  is 
preeminently  the  work  of  the  same  divine  person. 
"  For  unto  me,"  says  the  same  apostle,  "  who 
am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace 
given,  that  I  should  preach  among  the  Gentiles, 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ;  and  to  make  all 
men  see  what  is  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery, 
which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  hath  been 
hid  in  God;  who  created  all  things  by  Jesus 
Christ.  To  the  intent,  that  now,  unto  the  princi- 
palities and  powers  in  heavenly  places,  might  be 
known,  by  the  church,  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God."t 

*  Heb.  i.  8—12.  f  Eph.  iii.  8—11. 


187 

The  end  of  a  thing  is  always  more  excellent 
than  the  means;  for,  as  it  generally  unfolds  to  us 
the  reasons  for  the  undertaking,  whatever  it  be,  it 
must,  consequently,  possess,  to  all  who  come  within 
its  influence,  a  character  of  the  highest  interest  and 
importance.  The  end  of  the  first  creation  was  to 
reveal  to  us  the  glorious  attributes  and  providence 
of  God.  But  of  all  the  revelations  of  his  attributes, 
and  of  all  the  works  of  his  providence,  the  new 
creation,  or  the  redemption  of  man,  is  unspeakably 
the  most  marvellous  and  most  important,  and,  unless 
the  Scriptures  were  meant  to  deceive  us,  it  is  that, 
towards  the  completion  of  which,  all  the  others 
are  directed.  The  display  of  the  wisdom  of  God 
in  the  work  of  redemption,  as  may  be  seen  by  our 
last  quotation,  was  the  "  intent,"  or  end,  for  which 
all  things  were  created  by  Christ  Jesus.  The 
commemoration,  therefore,  of  this  event,  must  be 
allowed  to  possess  a  paramount  claim  on  the  heart 
and  the  conscience  of  man;  and  of  this,  we  pre- 
sume, a  direct  proof  is  afforded  by  the  following 
prophetic  declaration  of  Isaiah — "  He  who  blesseth 
himself  in  the  earth,  shall  bless  himself  in  the  God 
of  truth;  and  he  that  sweareth  in  the  earth, 
shall  swear  by  the  God  of  truth.  For,  behold, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new 
earth;  and  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered, 
nor  come  into  mind.  But  be  ye  glad,  and  rejoice 
M  3 


138 

for  ever,  in   that  which  I  create:  for,  behold,   I 
create  Jerusalem   a  rejoicing,   and  her  people  a 
joy."*     This  passage  of  Scripture,  beyond  all  con- 
troversy, relates  to  the  time  of  the  Gospel  dispensa- 
tion, and  contains  two  points  worthy  of  our  notice. 
First,  it  expressly  represents  the  new  creation;  that 
is,  the  regeneration  or  renovation  of  the  moral 
world,  by  the  redemption  of  man,  as  possessing  a 
higher  character,  in   the  divine  estimation,  than 
the  first  creation.     Secondly,  it  assigns,  as  a  reason 
why  the  former  creation   should  not  be  remem- 
bered, or  why  the  new  creation   should   be  com- 
memorated, in  preference  to  it, — the  work  of  saving 
and  sanctifying  the  souls  of  men,  by  which  they 
become  a  rejoicing  to  the  Most  High,  and  a  joy 
to  one  another.     According,   then,   to  the   plain 
and  established  method  of  interpreting  prophecy, 
this  passage  of  Scripture  announces  this  important 
truth — that  a  particular  and  solemn  commemora- 
tion of  the  work  of  redemption,  was  a  part  of  the 
good  pleasure  of  God,  and  that,  as  surely  as  his 
wisdom  is  unerring,  and  his  decrees  irresistible,  it 
was  designed,  in  the  course  of  his  providence,  that 
this  event  should   be  accomplished.     Now,   there 
neither  is,  nor  ever  was,  any  public  celebration  of 
the  redemption   of  man,   by   the  church,   except 

*  Isaiah  Ixv.  16,  17,  18. 


139 

that  which  takes  place  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  or  the  day  on  which  the  Saviour  completed 
the  work,  which  the  Father  had  given  him  to  do, 
by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead.  If,  then,  the 
prophecy  relates  not  to  the  solemnization  of  this 
day,  and  the  celebration  of  this  event,  it  is  still 
unaccomplished.  But,  if  it  does  relate  to  this 
event,  and  to  its  commemoration,  (and  surely  this 
will  not  be  controverted  by  any  candid  reader  of 
the  passage,)  then,  the  manner  of  accomplishing  it, 
exhibits,  in  a  most  pleasing  form,  the  wisdom  and 
the  good  pleasure  of  God,  and  is  beautifully  illus- 
trative of  the  work  by  which  he  creates  his  people 
a  joy  and  a  rejoicing  on  the  earth.  "  For,  as  the 
liew  heavens  and  the  new  earth  which  I  will  make, 
shall  remain  before  me,  saith  the  Lord,  so  shall 
your  serjd  and  your  name  remain.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new  moon  to  another, 
and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh 
come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord."* 

Several  other  predictions  and  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures,  might  here  be  adduced 
in  corroboration  of  the  view  we  have  endeavoured 
to  support;  but,  as  we  maintain,  that  our  general 
argument  rests  on  broad  and  substantial  grounds, 
we  forbear  to  bring  forward  any  further  illustration 

*  Isaiah  Ixvi.  22,  23. 


140 

from  a  quarter,  which  might,  in  the  estimation  of 
a  scrupulous  inquirer,  be  reckoned  doubtful. 

One  day  in  seven,  we  have  already  seen,  must, 
according  to  the  first  ordinance  of  heaven,  be 
set  apart  for  the  holy  exercises  of  religion;  but 
the  particular  day  depends  upon  positive  appoint- 
ment, and  may  be  any  one  which  the  wisdom  of 
God  may  establish  for  that  purpose.  The  fourth 
commandment,  which  enforces  the  duties  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  a  matter  of  moral  and  indispensable 
obligation,  had  a  prospective,  as  well  as  a  retro- 
spective character;  and,  according  to  the  explana- 
tion we  have  given  above,  it  bears  as  much  on  the 
sanctification  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  as  on  that 
of  the  Jewish.  No  fact  is  more  clearly  established 
in  the  New  Testament  than  this,  that,  on  our 
Lord's  resurrection  from  the  grave,  the  Sabbath, 
in  commemoration  of  that  great  event,  the  only 
foundation  of  our  faith,  and  of  our  hope  of  future 
glory,  was  transferred  from  the  last  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week;  and  the  reasons  for  this  change 
are  such,  as  should  appear  to  every  candid  and 
pious  reader  the  most  weighty  and  obligatory. 

He  to  whom  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
was  given,  had  power,  assuredly,  to  loosen  or  to 
bind;  and,  as  we  believe  that  there  is  no  inherent 
holiness  in  times,  any  more  than  in  places;  so  we 
believe,  that  the  Son  of  man,   wlio  came,   not  to 


141 

destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it,  had  a  sovereign  and 
indisputable  right  to  appropriate  the  day  of  his  own 
resurrection — the  day  on  which  he  finished  the 
work  of  redemption  he  had  come  to  achieve,  and 
triumphed  over  all  the  hosts  of  darkness  and  of 
sin — to  the  pious  meditation  on  the  riches  of  his 
grace,  to  the  public  exposition  of  the  doctrines  of 
his  Gospel,  and  the  public  performance  of  his 
laws.  If  it  be  true,  that  we  are  bound  to  follow 
his  example,  as  a  rule  of  conduct,  surely  that 
which  he  bequeathed  to  us  after  his  resurrection, 
is  not  less  valuable,  or  less  binding,  than  that 
which  he  left  us  before  it;  and,  if  the  practice  of 
the  apostles  can  give  any  recommendation  to  the 
public  dedication  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  to 
the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  we  shall  beware  of 
forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together,  (as 
the  manner  of  too  many  is,)  but,  knowing  that 
God  loveth  the  gates  of  Zion  more  than  the 
dwellings  of  Jacob,  we  shall  celebrate  this  day  as 
the  holy  of  the  Lord,  and  honourable,  by  going 
up  to  his  house  of  prayer,  that  we  may  offer  the 
sacrifice  of  thanksgiving — that  He  may  teach  us 
his  ways — and  that  we  may  learn  to  walk  in 
them. 

But,  confining  ourselves,  at  present,  to  the 
history  and  the  example  of  our  Saviour,  we  shall 
find  the  most  ample  and  satisfactory  reasons  for 


142 

the  change  in  question.  It  is  unequivocally  stated 
to  us,  that  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath; 
and  in  virtue  of  this  character,  he  had  full  power 
to  remove  from  its  obligations,  the  cumbersome 
and  ceremonial  observances,  which  ignorant  or 
superstitious  men  had  incorporated  with  its  duties 
— he  had  power  to  dispense  with  the  solemnities 
of  public  worship  which  belonged  to  its  consecra- 
tion— or  he  could  transfer  these  solemnities  to  any 
other  day  more  appropriate  to  the  events  of  his 
own  life,  and  better  calculated  to  give  effect  to  the 
doctrines  he  enjoined  us  to  believe,  and  the  hopes 
he  has  taught  us  to  entertain.  Moreover,  as  he 
was  the  end  and  the  consummation  of  the  law — as 
in  him  all  the  promises  of  God  centered,  and  to 
him  all  the  prophets  of  the  old  dispensation  gave 
witness — as  he  was  the  author  of  a  new  and  an 
everlasting  righteousness,  and  had  all  power  under 
the  new  covenant  given  into  his  hands, — so  he  had 
full  and  rightful  authority  to  annex  new  and  per- 
petual obligations  to  the  celebration  of  any  event, 
and  the  performance  of  any  duty. 

Now,  we  believe  all  this  will  scarcely  be  denied, 
even  by  those  who  are  most  inimical  to  the  view 
we  are  supporting;  but,  still  pertinaciously  adhering 
to  the  old  objection,  that  no  positive  law  can  be 
produced  in  favour  of  the  appointment  in  question, 
they    contend,    that   its   continuance,   under    the 


143 

present  dispensation,  rests  wholly  upon  human 
opinion  and  custom,  and  may  be  observed,  or 
not,  as  convenience  will  allow,  without  any  moral 
consequences  at  all  attaching  to  our  conduct.*  At 
least,  they  contend,  that  the  neglect  or  violation  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  is  only  the  neglect  or 
violation  of  a  human  ordinance;  and,  granting 
that  there  is  guilt  or  criminality  in  the  disregard 
or  contempt  of  human  authority,  its  penalties  or 
consequences,  they  assert,  have  only  a  secular  or 
political  character,  and  can  only  be  partial  in  their 
nature,  and  transient  in  their  duration.  We 
confess,  that  we  are  not  able  to  suppress  our  sur- 
prise at  the  avowal  of  such  an  opinion;  because, 
we  are  persuaded,  that,  if  it  were  extended,  as  we 
know  it  to  be  the  wish  of  many  in  our  own  age 


•  It  is  certainly  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  make  the  necessity 
of  God's  worship,  and  the  authority  of  the  Lord's  day,  depend 
upon  human  orders  and  customs.  •'  For,"  as  Dr.  Prideaux 
argues,  in  a  book  published  long  ago,  *'  what  would  it  affect  men 
that  were  busied  about  farms,  and  merchandise,  and  domestic 
affairs,  to  tell  them  of  a  human  institution?  Would  they  not 
easily  set  at  nought  all  that  could  be  urged  in  such  a  way? 
Would  not  profane  men  easily  dispense  with  their  absenting 
themselves  from  prayer  and  preaching,  and  give  themselves  free 
leave  of  doing  or  neglecting  any  thing,  were  their  not  something 
found  in  scripture,  which  would  bind  the  conscience  more  than 
any  human  appointment?  To  this,  therefore,  let  us  look,  and 
consider  what  evidence  we  have  of  the  first  day  in  every  week 
being  appointed  to  be  kept  holy  under  the  Gospel." 


144 

that  it  should  be  extended,  to  other  branches  of 
the  law,  to  which  we  attach  a  divine  sanction,  it 
would  prove  destructive  of  all  religious  and  moral 
principle,  and  engender  the  most  undisguised 
profligacy  and  crime.  But  we  shall  state  a  very 
few  considerations,  which,  we  trust,  will  lay  open 
the  fallacy  of  the  reasoning  on  which  it  is  founded. 

And  we  begin  with  observing,  that,  if  we  make 
the  worship  of  God  depend  upon  human  authority, 
we  may  rest  assured,  if  experience  can  at  all  be 
trusted   as  a  guide,  that  it  will  not  long  maintain 
any  pure  or  spiritual  influence  over  the  heart  or 
the  life  of  man.     Does  not,  in  many  cases,  his 
private  interest  render  him   regardless  of  public 
opinion;  and,  if  no  moral  penalty   is  connected 
with   his  neglect  or  abuse,   of  whatever  his  neigh- 
bour may  conceive  to  be  very  important,  will  he 
not  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  choice  whether  he 
comply  or  not?    There  will  be  no  control  over  his 
conscience,  and  there  can  be  no  reliance  on  his 
conduct.    There  will  be  no  apprehension  of  future 
consequences,  joined   with  his  disregard   of  what 
he  believes  to  have  no  permanent  sanction  *,  and 
we  may  be  certain,  that  the  duty,  if  a  duty  he 
may  allow  it  to  be,  will  be  held  to  be  one  of  purely 
arbitrary  appointment,  and,  in  all  probability,  it 
will  be  as  often  forgotten  as  performed. 

But,  let  us  here  ask,  are  there  not  many  cases, 


145 

in  which  actions  acquire  the  nature  and  character  of 
a  precedent,  and  thus  obtain  all  theforce  and  validity 
of  a  regularly  published  law?  Are  there  not  customs 
existing  in  deliberative  assemblies,  and  in  courts  of 
justice,  and  in  all  kinds  of  societies  indeed,  moral, 
political,  and  scientific,  which  are  observed,  and 
complied  with,  by  men,  as  punctually  and  as  rigidly 
as  if  they  possessed  the  broad,  but  definite  authority, 
of  a  written  statute?     Is  not  a  signal  from  a  com- 
mander, or  a  king,  or  any  other  who  presides  over 
the  destinies  of  men,   when  it  clearly  reveals   his 
will,  held  of  equal  authority,  and  enforced  with 
the  same  obligations,  as  if  it  had  been   embodied 
in   the   form   of  a  spoken  order,  and   had    been 
transmitted  to  us  by  personal  communication?* 
Now,  these  observations,  it  is  presumed,   will   be 
found  to  apply  most  strictly  to  the  question  before 
us.  There  was  no  express  commandment  originally 
published  for  the  institution  of  the   Sabbath;  but 
the  signal  of  its  dedication  to  a  holy  respite  from 
the   employments   of   ordinary    life,    and    to    the 
exercises  of  pious   and    peaceful  meditation,   was 
given  by  the  Almighty  himself;  and   possessed  as 
much   authority  and  obligation  on   the  hearts  of 
men,  as  could  be  impressed   by  the  most  specific 


•    "  Actions  certainly    make    a    law,    when    they    sufficiently 
publish  tlie  mind  and  will  of  the  lawgiver,  as  well  as  words  " 

N 


146 

and  definite  rule.     In  the  same  way,  there  is  no 
particular  enactment  in  the  New  Testament,  by 
which  we  are  commanded,  from   one  Sabbath  to 
another,  to  come  before  the  Lord,  to  worship  him; 
but  there  are  some  signs  and  examples  which  carry 
all   the   sanction   and   obligation  of  a   regularly 
published  law.     The  most  stupendous  of  all  the 
miracles  which  our  Saviour  performed,  (his  own 
resurrection  from  the  dead,)  was  wrought  on   the 
first   day   of  the   week;  and   thus  was  the  fullest 
testimony  given,  that  he  was  that  Messiah  who  was 
to  sufter  for  our   offences,  and    to  rise   for   our 
justification — who  was  to  triumph  over  principali- 
ties and  powers — and  ascend  to  the  right  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high,  to  give  repentance,  and  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  to  every  people.     Here,  then, 
was  a  new  era  opened  up   to    the   hopes  of  the 
human    race,    and    a    new   day   ordained,   to    be 
commemorated  by  us,  as  the  earnest  and  the  fore- 
taste of  their  realization.     Here  was  the  fulfilment 
of  all   that   had    been    predicted   by  the  ancient 
prophets,    respecting  the  new  creation;   and  the 
completion   of  all  those  things   which  he  spoke, 
when  he  foretold  how  he  should  suffer,  and  how 
he  should  rise  from  the  dead,  as  the  first-fruits  of 
them  that  slept.     This  was  the  consummation  of 
all  the  work  which  the  Father  had  given  him  to 
do;  and  by  this,  did  he  obtain  the  power  to  give 


147 

justification  and  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  believed 
upon  him.  Although,  therefore,  we  had  no  further 
reason  for  the  regular  and  solemn  dedication  of 
this  day  to  the  purposes  of  public  religious  worship, 
and  to  the  study  and  performance  of  the  duties  of 
the  Christian  life,  this  single  event  would  furnish 
us  with  the  most  abundant  authority  for  the  devout 
assembling  of  ourselves  together,  to  commemorate 
the  era  of  our  deliverance  from  eternal  death,  and 
our  admission  to  a  participation  of  the  hopes  that 
are  laid  up  for  the  righteous. 

Should  it  be  still  asked,  however,  by  any  one,  why, 
on  a  subject  of  so  much  importance  and  interest  to 
society,  our  Saviour  has  left  us  no  positive  injunction? 
— we  answer,  that  his  own  example,  illustrative  of 
his  mind  and  will  respecting  the  duty,  has  come 
down  to  us  with  all  the  force  and  obligation  of  a 
moral  precept: — we  answer,  that  there  is  no  parti- 
cular enumeration  of  the  commandments  of  the  mo- 
ral law  given  by  him  in  any  one  place;  and  that  we 
are  left  to  gather  their  sanctions  from  detached 
passages  of  his  life  and  history.  Yet,  we  never 
entertain  the  idea,  that  he  came  to  repeal  or  relax 
any  part  of  moral  duty,  which  the  law  of  con- 
science, or  the  law  of  Moses,  made  obligatory  on 
man.  "  He  came,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  the 
law;"  and  all  that  had  a  moral  tendency  upon  the 
heart  and  the  life  of  man,  in  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
N  2 


148     • 

tion,  is  left  by  him  in  full  operation;  nay,  it  is 
confirmed  by  him,  with  more  comprehensive 
motives,  and  more  spiritual  rewards  than  were 
before  attached  to  it.  The  institution  of  the 
Sabbath,  undeniably  possesses  a  high  moral  charac- 
ter, and  is  productive  of  the  highest  moral  benefit 
to  man;  it  must,  of  consequence,  be  of  the  number 
of  those  appointments  and  laws  which  he  appeared 
in  the  world  to  confirm,  and  to  the  observance 
and  performance  of  which  he  has  annexed  more 
exalted  sanctions  and  more  lasting  rewards. 

Did  the  Jews  meet  on  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week,  to  meditate  on  the  wonderful  and  visible 
exercise  of  the  creative  power  of  Jehovah  ?  Did 
they  meet  on  that  day,  to  commemorate  their 
creation  as  a  nation  out  of  the  family  of  Abraham  ; 
to  celebrate  the  redemption  of  their  fathers  from 
the  bondage  of  Egypt ;  and  their  victorious  settle- 
ment in  the  land  of  Palestine  ?  Were  their  views 
and  explanation  of  the  "  Rest,"  which  is  figuratively 
alluded  to  in  the  establishment  of  the  Sabbath, 
confined  to  the  temporal  ease  and  enjoyment  of 
the  promised  land? — We  Christians,  meet  for  the 
commemoration  of  higher  and  nobler  events.  We 
do  not  forget  the  wisdom  and  the  goodness  of 
creating  power,  which  has  spread  around  us  such 
a  rich  and  abundant  variety  of  moral  felicity.  We 
do  not  forget  the  covenant  made   with    faithful 


149 

Abraham,  nor  the  strong  hand  which  redeemed 
Israel  from  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh,  and  gave 
them  rest  from  their  enemies  in  the  promised 
land.  But  we  have  a  new  creation  to  celebrate, 
and  a  new  redemption  to  commemorate — and  a 
more  sublime  interpretation  of  that  holy  rest, 
which  is  typified  in  the  Sabbath,  is  given  unto  us, 
than  the  majority  of  the  Jewish  people  seem  to 
have  known.  This  day,  on  which  we  meet  to 
celebrate  the  praises  and  the  mercies  of  God, 
remains  with  us,  as  a  sign  for  ever,  of  a  happy 
and  glorious  event,  which  awaits  the  faithful  and 
the  just,  after  the  cares  and  toils  of  this  fleeting  life 
are  past.  The  land  of  Canaan  was  only  the  pledge 
of  the  goodness  of  that  God,  who  founded  the 
laws  and  the  state  of  Israel.  The  spiritual  Israel 
did  not  look  to  it,  as  the  end  or  the  consum- 
mation of  their  hopes.  They  desired  a  more 
uninterrupted  rest — they  looked  for  a  better 
country,  even  a  heavenly — and,  with  all  the  patient 
and  persevering  disciples  of  the  gospel,  this 
changing,  and,  to  many,  anxious  and  weary 
life,  is  but  a  pilgrimage  in  search  of  that  blessed 
and  permanent  abode. 

But,    who   is  he  that  has  gone   before   us,    to 

prepare  mansions  in  that  dwelling,    from  which 

all  care  and  sorrow,  and  disease  and  death,  are 

entirely  and  for  ever  excluded?    It  is  he,  who, 

N    3 


150 

on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  rose  victorious  from 
the  grave,  after  having  made  a  sacrifice  of 
himself  for  the  sins  of  the  human  race,  and 
opened  up  a  v^^ay  of  reconciliation  between  us 
and  the  Father.  It  is  he,  who  has  entered  into 
the  holy  of  holies,  which  was  never  entered  by 
any  earthly  priest,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which 
he  has  consecrated  for  us  through  the  veil,  that 
is  to  say,  his  flesh.  Now,  if  the  Jews  observed 
with  reverence  and  solemnity  the  sevenlh  day, 
because  on  it  Jehovah  rested  from  the  work  of 
creation,  much  more  ought  we  to  devote,  to  the 
holy  exercises  of  piety,  thanksgiving,  and  praise, 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  because  on  it,  he  com- 
pleted the  benevolent  and  marvellous  scheme, 
which,  from  the  commencement  of  our  depravity, 
he  had  framed  for  our  redemption  and  recovery. 
On  that  day,  Jesus  spoiled  principalities  and 
powers,  and  made  a  show  of  them  openly.  On 
that  day,  he  rested  from  all  his  labours  and  suf- 
ferings, having  triumphed  over  all  his  and  our 
enemies.  He  is,  therefore,  most  appropriately 
and  correctly  said,  by  an  apostle,  "  to  have  entered 
into  his  rest:"  and  the  commemoration  of  that 
event,  is  surely  equally  binding  upon  us,  and 
equally  interesting  to  our  religions  feelings,  as 
that  of  the  first  instance  of  creating  power.  "  For 
he  that  is  entered  into  his  rest :  he  hath  also  ceased 


151 

from  his  own  works  as  God  did  from  his."  Thus 
is  the  parallel  of  the  two  cases  most  clearly  estab- 
lished ;  and  the  keeping  of  a  Sabbath,  or  a  season 
of  holy  rest,  confirmed  to  the  people  of  God  in 
every  age.* 

But  we  have  much  more  direct  evidence,  than 
what  we  have  yet  adduced,  to  substantiate  the 
position  we  have  assumed.  We  have  very  copious 
and  satisfactory  proof,  that  this  day  was  honoured 
by  our  Saviour,  as  a  day  to  be  held  sacred  to  the 
public  duties  of  his  religion — that  his  apostles 
and  disciples  directed  it  to  the  commemoration 
of  his  victory  over  the  grave;  that  the  infant 
church  esteemed  its  observance  of  indispensable 
obligation;  and,  that  it  was  intended  to  remain 
with  us,  as  a  sign  for  ever,  of  that  inheritance  of 
rest  and  blessedness,  which  is  prepared  for  the 
people  of  God,  after  the  trials  and  the  tribulations 
of  this  life  have  come  to  an  end.  Twice,  we  are 
told — and  these  two  instances  may  be  regarded  as 
specimens  of  the  general  practice,  and,  therefore, 
designed  to  serve  as  a  general  rule  to  us — twice 
did  our  Saviour  brighten,  with  his  special  presence, 
the  meetings  of  his  chosen  followers,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  and  breathe  on  them  the  bene- 
diction of  peace  and  friendship. 

•   Heb.  iv.  9,  10. 


152 

In  the  twentieth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  we 
find  it  stated,  that,  "  on  the  same  day,"  namely, 
the  day  of  the  resurrection,  "  at  even,  being  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  came  Jesus  and  stood  among 
them,  and  said  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you." 
And  on  the  eighth  day  afterwards,  when  the 
disciples  were  assembled  in  the  same  place,  and 
for  the  same  purposes,  and  the  doors  were  shut, 
Jesus  came  again  among  them,  and  pronounced 
over  them  the  same  benediction.  Now,  no  un- 
prejudiced reader  of  the  New  Testament,  can 
doubt,  or  deny,  that  the  disciples  were  assembled 
on  this  day,  for  the  purpose  of  sanctifying  it ;  by 
commemorating  the  event  of  their  Saviour's  resur- 
rection, and  by  edifying  one  another  in  the  doc- 
trines and  duties  of  his  religion ;  and  as  little,  do 
we  think,  can  any  one  doubt,  that  the  Saviour 
made  his  appearance  among  them,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  his  sanction  to  the  holy  institution, 
and  of  encouraging  his  followers  in  its  future  and 
perpetual  solemnization. 

And  to  satisfy  us  the  more  fully  of  this  opinion, 
we  shall  quote  a  few  more  passages  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  clearly  prove,  that  the  interpre- 
tation we  have  given,  was  that  which  the  Apostles 
adopted.  The  feast  of  Pentecost  must  have  hap- 
pened that  year,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
because    it   was   celebrated   fifty    days   after   the 


153 

passover  ;  and  St.  John  informs  us,  that  this  latter 
festival  was  observed  that  season  on  the  Jewish 
Sabbath.  Now,  in  the  beginning  of  the  history 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Luke  has  recorded, 
that  the  disciples,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty,  were,  on  this  occasion,  all,  with  one 
accord,  in  one  place:  and,  in  testimony  of  God's 
acceptance  of  their  services,  in  honour  of  their 
Master's  resurrection,  they  were  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other 
tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.*  "  Con- 
cerning the  collection  for  the  saints,"  says  St.  Paul, 
in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  "  as  I  have  given  orders  to  the 
churches  of  Galatia ;  even  so  do  ye.  Upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by 
him  in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that 
there  may  be  no  gathering  when  I  come."  *  This 
passage  opens  up  a  rich  variety  of  proof  to  our 
argument,  and  points  directly  to  the  general 
practice  of  the  early  Christians,  who,  in  obedience 
to  some  unrecorded  commandment  of  the  Saviour, 
met,  to  read  and  expound  the  Scriptures,  to 
celebrate  the  supper,  and  to  commemorate  their 
Lord's  triumpli  over  the  grave. 

In  the  twentieth   chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the 

♦   Actsii.  1—4.  f   1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2. 


154 

Apostles,  we  are  informed,  that,  when  Paul  arrived 
at  Troas,  on  his  way  from  Ephesus,  he  met  many 
of  the  brethren,  with  whom  he  tarried  seven  days. 
"  And  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the 
disciples  came  together  to  break  bread,  he  preached 
to  them,  ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow,  and 
continued  to  speak  till  midnight."*  Now,  although 
we  had  no  other  testimony  than  this  for  the  prac- 
tice, which,  we  contend,  existed  among  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  of  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath,  we 
would  be  naturally  led  to  inquire,  why  Paul  did 
not  meet  his  fellow  disciples  earlier,  as  he  seems 
to  have  been  under  the  necessity  of  leaving  them 
on  the  morning  after  he  addressed  them  ?  He  had 
tarried  seven  days  among  them :  and  had  it  not 
been  that  he  deferred  his  departure,  till  he  should 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  them  all  together, 
on  the  usual  day  of  their  meeting,  we  can  discover 
no  good  reason,  or  no  reason  at  all,  why  he  might 
not  have  had  his  arrangements  adjusted,  more  to 
his  personal  convenience,  and  have  given  them 
his  farewell  address,  on  any  of  the  preceding  days. 
Besides,  we  have  not  received  the  smallest  infor- 
mation, from  the  sacred  historians,  of  any  solemn 
meeting  which  they  had,  except  that  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week;  and,  hence,  we  consider  ourselves 

*  Acts  XX.  7. 


155 

justified  in  concluding,  that  this  was  the  only  day, 
on  which  it  was  the  established  custom  of  the 
primitive  church,  to  assemble,  for  the  performance 
of  the  duties  of  public  devotion. 

From  all   these  facts,   then,   we  are  furnished 
with    the   most    satisfactory   testimony,    that    the 
Saviour  marked  the  pious  observance  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  with  special  tokens  of  his  appro- 
bation; and   that  his  apostles,   in   honour  of  his 
resurrection,  and  in  obedience  to  his  example,  and, 
most  probably,  to  his  precept,  conceived  themselves 
warranted  to  appropriate,  or  devote  it,  as  a  per- 
petual  ordinance,   in   the  Christian  church,  to  a 
holy  rest  from  worldly  employment;  and  to  the 
performance  of  the  public  duties  and  exercises  of 
religion.      It  is  declared  by  the  Almighty  to  man, 
"  that  he  shall  not  add  to  the  words  which  he  has 
given  us,  nor  diminish  aught  from  them;  because, 
if  any  add  to  them,  God  shall  add  to  them   the 
plagues  which  are  written  in  the  Scriptures;  and 
if  any  take  away  from  them,  God  shall  take  away 
their  part  out  of  the  book  of  life."     Now,  it  is 
quite  impossible  that  the  apostles,  who  so  clearly 
inculcated  this  doctrine,  should  themselves  be  the 
first  to  disregard  or  violate  it.     It   is    altogether 
inadmissible,  that,  guided,  as  they  were,   by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  they  should  disobey  the  will  of  God, 
on  a  point  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  moral 


156 

and  spiritual  interests  of  the  church,  by  abolishing 
an  institution  undeniably  of  divine  appointment, 
and  substituting  one  of  their  own.  "  Nothing," 
says  a  very  sensible  writer,*  "  is  more  evident  to 
me,  than  that  this  example  has  all  the  weight 
which  can  be  attached  to  any  precept  whatever. 
This  will  especially  appear,  if  we  remember,  that 
Peter,  with  the  eleven  apostles,  celebrated  the  first 
day  of  the  week;  and  that  Paul  and  his  followers 
did  the  same.  Paul  received  his  Gospel  imme- 
diately from  Christ;  and  informs  us  in  Galatians  i. 
2,  that  the  apostles  of  Jerusalem  added  nothing  to 
him*  For  three  years,  he  never  saw  one  of  them; 
and  had  not  the  remotest  correspondence  with 
them.  All  the  doctrines,  therefore,  which  Paul 
acknowledged,  he  received  directly  from  Christ*' 
and  was  indebted  for  none  of  them  to  his  com- 
panions in  the  apostleship.  Yet,  Peter  and  his 
followers  observed  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the 
religious  day,  (as  the  Sabbath,)  and  Paul  and  his 
followers  observed  the  same.  Whence,  then,  did 
these  persons  thus  separated,  derive  this  agreement 
in  their  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week? 
The  only  answer  that  can  be  given  to  this  question 
is,  From  the  inspiration  which  guided  them  both* 
Had  they  been  uninspired,  their  agreement,  in  a 

*  Dwighl's  Sermons  on  the  Sabbath. 


157 

case  of  this  nature,  where  they  acted  independently 
of  each  other,  would  have  proved,  that  they  derived 
the  doctrine,  and  the  practice  grounded  on  it,  from 
a  common  source.  Their  character,  as  inspired 
men  and  apostles,  proves,  beyond  doubt,  that  the 
common  source  from  which  they  thus  harmoniously 
derived  a  religious  institution,  was  God. 

The  latest  writer  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
the  most  highly  favoured  of  all  the  apostles,  dis- 
tinguishes the  Christian  Sabbath  by  the  name  of 
the  "  Lord's  day;"  and  it  has  been  naturally 
supposed,  that  this  appellation  of  the  day  of  the 
resurrection,  has  been  derived  from  the  prophetic 
declaration  of  the  Psalmist,  "  This  is  the  day 
which  the  Lord  hath  made;  on  it,  we  will  rejoice 
and  be  glad."  "  I  was  in  the  spirit,"  says  St.  John, 
"  on  the  Lord's  day;"  that  is,  he  was  under  the 
peculiar  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  re- 
ceived by  inspiration,  those  visions  and  communi- 
cations which  related  to  the  history  and  destiny  of 
the  church  in  all  subsequent  ages;  thus  evidently 
implying,  that  there  was  a  special  appropriation  of 
this  day  to  the  service  of  God;  and,  consequently, 
markings  it  out  to  future  ages,  as  the  fit  and 
approved  season  of  holy  rest,  when  Christians 
should  assemble  together  for  the  pious  celebration 
of  his  praises — the  devout  meditation  on  his  love — 
and  the  serious  and  practical  exposition  of  the 
O 


158 

laws  and  obligations  they  are  bound  to  observe. 
The  Lord's  day,  is  a  phrase  of  the  same  import 
with  that  of  the  Lord's  supper;  and  as  this  latter 
ordinance  is  allowed  to  be  universally  binding  on 
all  who  acknowledge  their  faith  in  the  Gospel; — 
so,  we  presume,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  is  the 
ordinance  of  the  Sabbath — the  sanctification  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  a  day  on  which  we  are 
to  turn  away  our  feet  from  doing  our  own  ways, 
from  finding  our  own  pleasures,  and  speaking  our 
own  words. 

A  number  of  miscellaneous  passages  might  here 
be  adduced  from  the  New  Testament,   to   support 
the  views   we  have  been   illustrating;  but   I   am 
unwilling  to  overload  the  subject  with  bare  quota- 
tions, and  I  shall  only  subjoin   one  more.     The 
tenth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  con- 
tains many  seasonable  admonitions  and  encourage- 
ments to  the  Jewish  converts,  to  strengthen  them 
in  the  profession  and  practice  of  the  faith  they  had 
embraced,  and  to  preserve  them  in  an  age  of  peril 
and  persecution,  from   making  shipwreck  of  the 
hope  of  salvation;  and  at  the  twenty-fifth  verse  of 
that  chapter,  there  is  a  particular  injunction,  which 
directly   applies  to  the  public  observance  of  the 
Sabbath.     The  apostle  is  expounding  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel  dispensation;  and,  as  the 
testimony  of  their  belief  in  them,  he  recommends 


159 

and  enjoins  the  cultivation  of  mutual  benevolence, 
and  the  practice  of  virtuous  and  pious  condact. 
"  Let  us  consider  one  another,"  is  his  mode  of 
exhortation,  "  to  provoke  unto  love  and  to  good 
works."  And  as  the  best  means  of  promoting 
these  important  ends,  he  adds,  "  not  forsaking  the 
assembling  of  yourselves  together,  as  the  manner 
of  some  is."  *  Now,  in  this  passage,  there  is 
evidently  a  reference  to  a  custom  which  was 
prevalent  among  the  individuals  to  whom  the 
epistle  was  addressed.  That  custom  could  not  be 
the  daily  assembling  of  themselves  together  for 
devotional  exercises,  since  it  appears,  from  what 
we  have  stated  above,  that  Paul  seemed  to  sanction 
the  manner  of  his  brethren  at  Troas,  by  deferring 
his  valedictory  address  till  the  usual  day  of  their 
meeting.  That  day  was  the  first  day  of  the  week; 
and  the  custom  alluded  to,  in  the  verse  we  have 
just  quoted,  must,  in  fairness,  be  allowed  to  be  the 
same  as  prevailed  among  the  early  disciples  of 
Christianity.  The  ancient  church  adopted  the 
words  to  which  we  have  referred,  as  having  this 
interpretation;  and  as  there  is  the  best  reason  to 
conclude,  that  those  who  lived  at  the  era  of  the 
publication  of  the  Gospel,  must  have  best  known 
the  nature   of  its  doctrines,   and    the  particular 


Heb.  X.   24,  25. 
O  2 


160 

meaning  to  be  attached  to  any,  or  all,  of  its  public 
appointments;  so  we  may  consider  their  practice 
the  practice  of  the  apostles,  and,  in  most  cases, 
the  best  commentary  we  can  follow  on  the  ordi- 
nances and  institutions  of  the  New  Testament. 

At  this  point  of  our  discussion,  we  migjht  bring 
forward,  as  an  auxiliary  argument  to  what  we  have 
already  advanced,  a  copious  selection  of  facts  from 
the  writings  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  church,  to 
prove,  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  was  universally 
observed  as  a  day  of  holy  rest,  and  of  public 
religious  duty.  But  I  am  perfectly  aware,  that  if 
the  evidence  for  the  change  in  question — that  is, 
for  the  transference  of  the  Sabbath  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week — rested  wholly 
on  their  authority,  its  sanctions  might  be  re- 
garded as  very  doubtful  in  their  nature;  and  its 
duties  as  entirely  optional  in  their  performance. 
It  is  certainly  worthy  of  remark,  however,  that, 
amidst  the  many  feuds  which  agitated  the  church, 
(and  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  there  was  a 
violent  contest  about  the  anniversary  of  the  death 
of  Christ,)  there  seems  never  to  have  been  any 
doubt  entertained,  nor  was  there  any  controversy 
engaged  in,  respecting  the  divine  institution  of  the 
Lord's  day.  History  informs  us  of  none  who 
disputed  the  moral  obligation  of  devoting  it  to 
public  religious  duty.    It  was  the  universal  practice 


161 

of  all  classes  of  Christians,  to  abstain  on  it  from 
secular  pursuits  and  pleasures,  and  to  meet  to- 
gether for  the  public  worship  of  God.  The  uni- 
versality and  cordiality  of  the  sentiments  by  which 
they  were  actuated,  clearly  testify,  that  they  im- 
bibed them  from  a  common  source — that  is,  from 
the  authority  of  the  apostles,  and,  with  the  impress 
of  that  same  authority,  have  they  transmitted 
them  to  us. 

Still,  however,  we  argue  for  the  obligation  of 
observing  the  Christian  Sabbath,  on  scriptural 
grounds  alone;  and  if  any  shall  attempt  to  fritter 
down  its  duties  to  mere  human  or  ceremonial 
appointments,  which  have  derived  all  their  reputa- 
tion and  efficacy  from  the  authority  of  the  church 
alone,*  we  must  hold,  that  they  are  either  unable, 
or  unwilling,  to  distinguish  human  tradition  from 
divine  revelation;  that  they  discredit  the  cause  of 
religion,  by  abrogating  the  sanctions  of  its  more 


*  "  If  after  this,  any  will  add  the  universal  practice  of  the 
Christian  church  from  the  time  of  the  apostles,  as  a  proof  of  this 
settlement  being  made  in  their  days,  and  by  their  express  orders, 
I  readily  join  in  their  argument.  But,  if  the  practice  of  the 
church  be  pleaded  by  any,  so  as  to  make  the  observation  of  the 
Lord's  day  depend  only  upon  the  church's  authority,  here,  I 
apprehend,  do  they  greatly  injure  this  day,  and  discredit  tliat  law 
of  God,  by  dishonouring  and  abrogating  the  fourth  commandment; 
and  they  make  no  just  distinction  between  human  tradition  and 
divine  revelation." 

ylnon, 

o  3 


162 

explicit  laws;  and  that,  if  they  were  allowed  to  be 
legitimate  expositors  of  the  doctrines  and  duties 
of  the  Bible,  we  might  as  well  part  with  the  whole 
as  being  doubtful  and  fictitious,  as  retain  the 
scanty  number  of  either,  which  they  warrant  to 
possess  a  divine  authority,  obligatory  on  men  in 
all  conditions  of  life.  But  the  ordinance  for  which 
we  are  contending,  stands  on  a  broad  and  stable 
foundation;  and  if,  after  all  that  has  been  already 
advanced,  there  are  any  who  still  deny  the  moral 
obligation  of  assembling  themselves  together  to 
sanctify  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  their  under- 
standings must  be  very  darkened,  and  their  hearts 
very  insensible  towards  all  that  is  most  bright,  and 
animating,  and  endearing,  in  the  public  duties  of 
the  Gospel.  The  observance  of  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  is  as  binding  upon  us,  as  that  of  the 
seventh  day  was  upon  the  Jews;  and  we  would 
warn  those  who  disavow  its  sanctions,  and  who  live 
regardless  of  its  duties,  to  ponder  seriously  the 
ways  which  they  take,  and  the  accountability  which 
belongs  to  the  condition  they  fill.  There  are  none 
of  the  causes  now  operating,  which  scared  away 
the  Hebrew  converts  from  the  meeting  of  the 
saints,*  and  tempted  them  to  abandon  the  dis- 
tinctive character  by  which  they  were  known,  as 

*  Heb.  X.  towards  the  end. 


103 

the  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus.     There  is  now  no 
peril  or  persecution  to  alarm  us  in  the  devotional 
outpouring  of  our  hearts  to  the  Lord,  or  to  dis- 
turb the  solemn  assembling  of  ourselves  together, 
to  dedicate  to  his  worship,   a  day,   sacred   to  the 
memory  of  our  redemption  from  the  bondage  of 
sin,  and  our  attainment  of  the  promise  of  glory, 
honour,  and  immortality.     Our  lines  have  fallen 
in  pleasant  places,  and  we  have  obtained  a  goodly 
heritage.     As  far  as   the   act  of  worshipping   the 
God  of  our  fathers,  after  the  dictates  of  our  own 
conscience,  is  concerned,  every  man  sits  under  his 
own  vine,   and  under  his  own  fig-tree,  and   there 
is  none   to   make  us  afraid.      The    prediction   of 
former  ages  has  been  accomplished — that  the  house 
of  the  Lord  shall  be  established  on  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills; 
and   the  people  shall   flow  into   it.*     For  many 
nations  have  assembled  and  said,   "  Come,  let   us 
go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and   to   the 
house  of  the  God  of  Jacob;  and  he  will  teach  us 
of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths."     From 
the  word  and  the  ordinances  of  God — from   the 
influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit — from  the  presence 
of  Christ,  in  his  church — Christians  have  derived, 
on  this  day,  (the  Sabbath,)  more  than  on  all  others, 

•  Micah  iv.  1,  2. 


164 

the  most  delightful  views  of  the  divine  character — 
clear  apprehensions  of  their  own  duty — lively  de- 
votion to  the  service  of  God — strength  to  overcome 
temptations — and  glorious  anticipations  of  immor- 
tality. Take  this  day  from  the  calendar  of  the 
Christian,  and  all  that  remains  will  be  cloudy  and 
cheerless.  Religion  will  instantly  decay — igno- 
rance, error,  and  vice,  "  will  immediately  triumph 
— the  sense  of  duty  vanish — morals  fade  away — the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  cease  to  be  sounded — 
and  the  communication  between  heaven  and  earth 
be  cut  off  for  ever."  * 

*  Dwiffht's  Sermons  on  the  Sabbath. 


165 


SECTION  X. 

Manner  in  which  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  Sanctified, 

This  is  a  part  of  our  subject  on  which  we  enter 
with  great  hesitation  and  diffidence;  both  because 
we  are  aware,  that  great  abuses  have  prevailed  on 
the  side  of  too  rigid,  and  of  too  relaxed  an  obser- 
vance of  the  external  duties  of  the  Sabbath;  and 
because  we  feel  ourselves  very  incompetent  to  point 
out  exactly,  the  line  of  distinction  necessary  to  be 
preserved.  In  cases  where  the  Scriptures  do  not 
give  us  direct  and  particular  information,  much 
must  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  individual; 
and  if  he  has  conscientiously  studied  the  general 
commandment  in  question,  and  is  habitually  im- 
pressed with  the  fear  of  offending  God,  and  is 
sincerely  desirous  of  knowing  and  doing  his  will,  on 
all  points  connected  with  life  and  practice;  his  own 
understanding,  thus  enlightened  and  disciplined 
by  the  Spirit  of  truth,  must  be  allowed  to  be  his 
safest  guide  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  which 
that  commandment  may  embrace.  Where  no 
explicit  rule  is  laid  down  in  the  sacred  writings, 


166 

respecting  any  particular  branch  of  public  duty, 
we  hold  it  to  be  generally  unwise,  and  sometimes 
mischievous  in  man,  to  legislate  very  rigorously,  or 
to  presume  to  multiply  prescriptions  and  forms  which 
are  to  have  an  authoritative  force  over  the  conscience 
and  the  conduct  of  others.  It  is  most  perilous  for  a 
creature  to  attempt  to  be  wiser  than  the  Creator; 
and  nothing  can  more  strongly  depict  the  weakness 
and  folly  of  mankind,  than  the  assumption  of  the 
right  to  publish  laws  for  the  regulation  of  his 
worship,  in  cases  where  He  himself  has  chosen  to 
be  silent;  and  to  punish  their  fellow-men  for  non- 
compliance with  them,  without  the  shadow  of  a 
proof  of  a  divine  warrant  to  substantiate  the 
transgression,  or  inflict  the  penalty.  There  are 
general  points  of  duty,  on  which  the  Scriptures 
speak  very  plainly;  and  there  are  minute  points, 
which,  although  not  expressly  stated,  experience 
and  study  enable  us  readily  to  deduce  from  them. 
But  the  hand  of  innovation,  or  improvement,  should 
be  very  sparingly  applied  to  any  of  the  doctrines  or 
institutions  of  religion.  Error  in  opinion,  is  here, 
more  than  any  where  else,  fraught  with  very  per- 
nicious effects  in  practice;  and,  under  an  ignorant 
and  misguided  zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the 
glory  of  God,  the  cause  of  religion  has  been 
exposed  to  the  ridicule  of  the  profane; — and  forms 
and  solemnities  introduced  into  its  ordinances  and 


167 

institutions,  which  its  true  genius  and  spirit  utterly 
disowp.  For  the  purpose,  therefore,  of  restraining 
our  zeal  within  the  limits  which  reason  and  truth 
have  assigned  for  its  exercise,  we  ought  to  remem- 
ber, and  seriously  ponder,  the  injunction  which 
God  gave  to  his  servants  under  the  old  dispensa- 
tion: and  which  he  has  enforced  with  additional 
sanctions  under  the  new.  "  Ye  shall  not  add 
unto  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither 
shall  you  diminish  ought  from  it,  that  ye  may 
keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
which  I  command  you."*  "  I  testify,"  says  the 
last  and  faithful  witness,  "  unto  every  man  that 
hcareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book — 
if  any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things,  God 
shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in 
this  book.  And  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from 
the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall 
take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and 
out  of  the  holy  city,  and  from  the  things  which 
are  written  in  this  book."f 

It  was  their  disregard  of  the^  and  similar  in- 
junctions, which,  during  the  days  of  our  Saviour's 
contniuance  on  the  earth,  led  the  Jews  to  attach 
a  sanctity  and  obligation  to  the  observance  of 
external  rites,    which  the  revealed  word  of  God 


*  Deut.  iv.  2.  f  Rev.  xxii.  18,  19. 


168 

no  where  warranted  or  required.  It  was  their 
impatience  of  the  restraints  of  holiness  and  virtue — 
it  was  their  desire  to  get  rid  of  the  obligations  of 
purifying  themselves  from  all  iniquity  of  heart  and 
of  life,  by  doing  justly,  and  loving  mercy,  and 
walking  humbly  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  which 
were  the  causes  of  their  adding  to  the  number  of 
those  ceremonial  forms  of  worship,  which  God 
himself  had  established,  and  assigning,  to  the  regular 
and  punctual  observance  of  traditionary  prescrip- 
tions, all  the  sacredness  which  belonged  to  the 
highest  and  most  solemn  of  the  divine  command- 
ments. 

The  most  exalted  examples  of  magnanimity, 
of  heroic  piety,  and  personal  virtue,  which  the 
world  ever  witnessed,  were  formed  among  that 
people,  under  the  discipline  of  the  divine  law. 
But  the  corruptions  of  human  nature,  almost  totally 
destroyed  all  regard  to  the  natural  restraints  and 
obligations  of  that  law:  and,  by  the  substitution 
of  ceremonial  observances,  in  place  of  its  holy  and 
spiritual  requirements,  true  piety  and  virtue  were 
nearly  obliterated  from  among  them — the  rankest 
hypocrisy  characterized  all  their  devotional  exer- 
cises; and  their  general  conduct  justified  what 
has  been  severely  but  correctly  said  of  them,  that 
they  were,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  religious 
and   the  most  profligate  people  upon  the  face  of 


169 

the  earth ;  the  most  religious,  in  all  the  observances 
and  institutions,  of  a  purely  ritual  and  formal  na- 
ture; and  the  most  profligate,  in  all  that  concerned 
vital  godliness  and  purity ;  the  most  regardless  of 
those  weighty  and  indispensable  duties,  which  their 
own  law  taught  them  to  be  more  than  whole  burnt- 
offerings  and  sacrifices.* 

An  act  of  bodily  service  is,  at  all  times,  more 
easily  performed,  than  that  of  subduing  the  mind 
under  the  spiritual  and  humiliating  power  of  the 
divine  law,  or  of  purifying  it  from  all  the  secret 
sins  to  which  it  is  so  strongly  prone,  and  which 
that  law  so  severely  condemns:  and  if  the  periodi- 
cal attendance  upon  any  established  ordinance;  if 
the  observance  of  days,  or  mere  ritual  lustrations 
and  ablutions,  were  stamped  with  the  sacredness 
of  essential  duties  of  religion ;  there  is  little  doubt 
but  a  faithful  and  scrupulous  attention  would  be 
given  to  them  by  all  mankind.  There  is  a  strong 
inherent  propensity  in  the  human  mind,  to  substi- 
tute the  sign  for  the  thing  signified :  and  it  is  a 
melancholy  fact,  that,  in  all  ages,  the  bulk  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  have  been  distinguished  more 
by  the  form  of  godliness,  than  its  spirit  and  its 
power.  On  this  head,  the  Scriptures  furnish  us 
with  many  important  admonitions  and  reproofs; 


Horsley. 
P 


and  it  would  be  well  for  the  spiritual  ihfef-fest^  tf 
every  individual,  if  he  carefully  endeavoured  to 
apply  them  to  his  observance  bf  the  duties  bf  fhe 
institution  now  under  consideration. 

The  periodical  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a 
day  of  cessation  from   bodily  labour,   is  only  a 
means  of  promoting  moral  and   religious  duty; 
and   so   far  as  its  external  solemnization  dhly  is 
concerned,  it  may  be  regarded  as  merely   cere- 
monial.    Cessation  from  bodily  labour,  nioreovef, 
is    altogether    a    negative  act,    in    itself  uncon- 
nected with  moral  conduct,  undeserving  of  moral 
praise  or  disapprobation,  and  only  worthy  of  our 
consideration,  as  it  is  the  sign  of  our  submission 
to  a   positive   commandment   of  God.      It   has, 
therefore,  been  argued,  thatj  as  the  symbol,  or  the 
sign,  must  always  give  place  to  the  thing  signified, 
so,  means,  which  are  confessedly,  in  all  cases,  df 
subordinate  importance,  may  be  dispensed   with, 
when    they   interfere   with    the   ends    they    were 
originally  designed  to  advance.     Thisj   hbWever, 
is  a  rule,  which,  although  correct  in  its  general 
principle,  ought  to  be  very  cautiously  applied  :  as 
experience  has  furnished    us   with    very    copious 
evidence  of  this  truth, — that  when  men  readily  ne- 
glect the  ordinary  steps  by  which  any  object  is 
usually  acquired,  they  are  in  imminent  danger  of 
never  attaining  it.     The  regular  and   devotional 


171 

worship  of  God,  the  pious  contemplation  of  his 
attributes  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  justice,  good- 
ness, and  mercy — the  periodical  attendance  upon 
his  ordinances — the  reading  of  his  word,  and  the 
expounding  of  his  law,  are,  surely,  the  most  effec- 
tual means  of  preserving,  among  individuals,  and 
in  society  in  general,  a  sense  of  dependence  upon 
his  providence — a  grateful  remembrance  of  his 
forbearance  and  kindness — a  holy,  and  not  a 
slavish  fear  of  offending  him — and  a  sincere  and 
fervent  desire  to  prove,  in  all  our  dispositions  and 
dealings,  that  this  is  his  will  concerning  us,— even 
the  sanctification  of  our  soul,  and  spirit,  and  body. 
But,  while  we  say  all  this,  we  are  abundantly 
convinced,  that,  wherever  there  is  any  thing  cere- 
monial connected  with  any  of  the  duties  of  religion, 
there  is  a  perverse  tendency  in  the  human  mind,  to 
separate  what  is  moral,  from  what  is  ceremonial; 
and  to  manifest  a  devoted  regard  to  the  symbol, 
when  the  original  which  it  represented,  is  altogether 
forgotten.  We  know,  that  the  punctilious  obser- 
vance of  ritual  forms,  has  often  been  resorted  to, 
as  a  disguise  to  the  most  profligate  intentions;  and 
we  believe,  that  there  may  be  many  instances  de- 
tected, even  in  the  present  day,  where  the  mere 
external  duties  of  religion  are  very  rigidly  per- 
formed by  individuals,  in  whose  hearts  the  amiable 
and  benevolent  virtues  of  the  Gospel  never  resided, 
p2 


17^ 

and  whose  general  conduct  is  directly  opposed  to 
the  most  solemn  enactments  of  its  laws.  We 
believe,  that  there  are  numberless  cases  in  which 
external  rites  may  be  faithfully  observed  by  men 
who  are  void  of  all  regard  to  the  principles  of  true 
religion,  and  we  are  ready  also  to  admit,  that  the 
most  sacred  and  important  duties  of  morality,  may 
be  honourably  performed  by  individuals  who  are 
far  from  being  scrupulous  about  the  ceremonials 
of  worship,  which  particular  societies,  or  sects  of 
Christians,  have  established.  The  edict  of  an 
assembly,  or  of  a  court,  enforced  with  the  dread  of 
political  disabilities  and  penalties,  may  command 
a  decent  attention  to  a  day  of  public  fasting  or 
thanksgiving;  but  there  are  thousands  who  meet 
in  a  decorous  manner,  on  such  occasions,  in  whose 
breasts  no  sentiments  of  humiliation,  or  piety,  or 
Christian  gratitude  dwell.  Nay,  there  is  much 
reason  to  apprehend,  that  the  weekly  recurrence  of 
the  Sabbath  itself,  brings,  to  many  individuals,  no 
change  of  conduct,  but  an  abstinence  from  public 
labour,  or  a  formal  compliance  with  the  customs 
of  the  country  in  which  they  happen  to  reside.  The 
sacred  duties  of  piety  and  devotion  never  awaken 
their  affections,  nor  lift  them  to  a  sympathy  with 
the  exalted  doctrines  and  virtues,  which  are  then 
expounded  and  enforced;  and  when  they  come  in 
and  sit  down  as  the  people  of  God,  it  is  only  to 


173 

listen  to  the  instructions  of  wisdom,  as  they  would 
to  the  "  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a 
pleasant  voice,  for  they  hear  the  words,  but  they 
do  them  not." 

Religion  has  received  its  deepest  wounds  from 
the  falsehood  of  its  professors,  and  we  know  not  a 
garb  in  which  it  was  ever  dressed,  so  odious  and 
offensive  as  that  of  the  hypocrite.  The  heaviest 
woes  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  are  those 
denounced  by  our  Saviour  against  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  of  his  day;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  regret, 
that,  in  every  age  of  the  church,  there  have  not 
been  wanting  men,  who  have  rivalled  them  in 
all  the  grimace  of  affected  solemnity — in  all  the 
suppleness  of  hypocrisy — and  all  the  chicanery  of 
imposture  and  fraud.  There  is  a  pharisaical  spirit, 
very  prevalent  among  professing  Christians,  in  our 
own  day;  and  we  may  see  it  exemplified  in  the 
arrogant  claims  which  they  advance  to  the  character 
of  superior  sanctity,  founded  entirely  on  their 
superior  attention  to  the  ceremonial  forms  and 
outward  duties  of  religion.  There  is  a  spirit  of 
ignorance  and  delusion  still  more  prevalent  in  our 
day;  and  we  may  witness  its  baneful  effects  in  the 
conduct  of  those  who  imagine,  that  their  personal 
appearance  in  the  house  of  God,  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  to  hear  the  duties  of  religion  illus- 
trated and  recommended,  gives  them  a  license,  on 
p3 


174 

the  other  six  succeeding  days,  to  dispense  with 
their  study  and  observance,  and  to  live  independent 
of  their  restraints  and  obligations. 

This  charge,  I  am  aware,  may  appear  extrava- 
gant; and  the  case  may  be  set  down  as  prepos- 
terous. But  experience  has  supplied  us  with 
ample  testimony  of  its  truth;  and  we  are  perfectly 
satisfied,  that  there  are  multitudes,  in  the  present 
age,  who  delude  themselves  with  the  belief,  that 
they  are  very  respectable  and  praise-worthy  Chris- 
tians, if  they  are  found  at  church  on  Sunday, 
though  they  should  not,  on  a  single  following  day 
of  the  week,  be  found  in  the  spirit,  or  the  practice 
of  a  single  virtue,  or  grace  of  the  Gospel.  Self- 
deceit  is  a  most  powerful  agent;  and  when  a  sense 
of  duty  is  not  quickened  by  a  sense  of  its  divine 
obligations  and  penalties,  its  influence  on  the  con- 
duct will  be  but  feeble  and  ineffectual.  With  the 
bulk  of  mankind,  the  easiest  way  of  doing  a  thing 
is  the  best;  and,  in  the  highest  concerns  of  morality 
and  religion,  it  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  outward 
professions,  and  penances,  and  temporary  mortifi- 
cations, are  substitutes  for  the  weighty  and  impor- 
tant matters  of  the  law, — justice,  mercy,  and 
faith. 

There  is  a  strong  disposition  in  the  mind  of 
man,  to  multiply  the  formalities  of  public  worship; 
and,  in  doing  this,  he  often  overlooks  the  duties 


175 

of  benevolence  and  piety  which  they  were  pri- 
marily intended  to  promote.  In  every  age  and 
condition  of  society,  the  majority  of  our  race  have 
been  more  influenced  by  show  than  by  reality;  and 
wherever  it  has  been  practicable,  we  find,  that 
they  have  been  abundantly  satisfied  with  the  ob- 
servance of  an  outward  routine  of  actions,  which 
had  no  connection  with  the  worship  of  God,  but 
the  form,  or  the  name.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
thing  in  the  world,  to  see  a  fast,  or  festival  of 
human  appointment,  kept  most  rigidly  by  men 
who  never  think  of  keeping  their  hearts  from  sin 
and  uncleanness.  Ablutions  of  the  body,  are 
easier  performed  than  ablutions  of  the  soul;  and 
distinctions  of  days  and  weeks,  are  easier  made 
and  easier  remembered,  than  the  distinction  be- 
tween self-righteousness  and  true  godliness.  A 
voluntary  show  of  humility  is  often  a  disguise  to 
the  rankest  pride,  and  it  has  been  assumed  by 
many  professing  Christians,  who  are  utter  strangers 
to  that  meekness  and  lowliness  of  disposition  which 
renounce  all  dependence  upon  human  worth  and 
excellence,  and  follow  after,  if,  haply,  they  may 
be  apprehended  and  approved  of  him,  who  was 
the  pattern  and  the  perfection  of  all  that  was 
meek,  and  lowly,  and  excellent,  and  praise-worthy 
in  life. 

It  is  a  much  easier  process  to  undergo  a  little 


176 

bodily  mortification,  than  to  crucify  evil  and 
impure  affections,  which  indulgence  has  rendered 
dear,  as  a  right  hand,  or  a  right  eye;  and  innume- 
rable instances  have  proved  to  us,  that  a  rigorous 
self-denial,  on  some  points  of  moral  transgression, 
is  regarded  as  giving  an  uncontrolled  license  to 
indulgence  on  others.  Wherever  a  reverence  for 
the  authority  of  God,  is  placed  on  an  equality 
with  a  respect  for  human  institutions  and  laws — 
wherever  traditionary  prescriptions,  and  legendary 
customs,  are  exalted  to  a  rank  with  the  doctrines 
and  ordinances  of  divine  appointment — and  men 
are  taught  that  the  obligations  to  the  observance 
of  both,  are  alike  imperative  on  the  human  con- 
science— we  may  be  sure,  that  there  the  worship  of 
God  will  be  stripped  of  all  the  holy  solemnity  and 
awe,  which  are  its  natural  concomitants;  and  the 
sanctions  of  religious  and  moral  duty  be  diminished, 
by  diminishing  the  dread  of  responsibility,  which 
an  offence  against  the  Infinite  Spirit,  should,  at  all 
times,  inspire.  Hence,  it  has  happened,  in  many 
places,  that  the  human  mind  has  been  altogether 
estranged  from  just  and  exalted  views  of  the 
character  of  the  Creator,  and  beguiled  into  a 
voluntary  humility,  and  worshipping  of  forms,  by 
following,  for  commandments,  the  traditions  of 
men.  The  "  rudiments  of  the  world "  have,  in 
many  cases,  supplanted  the  revelations  of  heaven; 


177 

and  the  inventions  of  human  ingenuity  and  artifice, 
— institutions  of  human  device  and  appointment, 
have  been  recommended  and  enforced  with  obliga- 
tions and  penalties  as  impressive  and  rigorous  as 
any  that  are  attached  to  the  undisputed  commtind- 
ments  of  God. 

Now,  we  know  from  experience,  that  a  reliance 
on  the  external  forms  of  religion,  as  a  ground  of 
acceptance  with  the  Most  High,  never  fails  to 
vitiate  the  feelings,  and  relax  the  principles  of 
virtue.  Superstition,  also,  is  always  busy  in  per- 
verting, to  the  purposes  of  worldly  ambition  and 
strife,  those  rites,  which  were  designed  for  the 
advancement  of  benevolence  and  peace;  and  thus 
it  is,  that  fruitless  controversies  have  been  the 
result  of  institutions,  which  were  originally  in- 
tended to  unite  mankind  in  the  bonds  of  harmony 
and  love.  Thus  it  is,  moreover,  that,  in  many 
places  of  the  world,  the  observance  of  merely 
secular  ordinances  has  been  substituted  for  the 
laws  and  the  practice  of  justice,  mercy,  and  fidelity; 
and  the  idle  fopperies  of  an  unmeaning  devotion 
have  been  made  sacred,  at  the  expense  of  true 
holiness.  It  was  for  causes  like  these,  that  our 
Saviour  thus  addressed  his  countrymen, — "  Ye 
hypocrites,  well  did  Esaias  prophecy  of  you,  saying, 
This  people  draweth  nigh  unto  me  with  their  mouth, 
and  honoureth  me  with  their  lips,  but  their  heart 


178 

is  far  from  me.  Howbeit,  in  vain  do  they  worship 
me,  teaching,  for  doctrines,  the  commandments  of 
men.  For,  laying  aside  the  commandment  of  God,^ 
ye  hold  the  tradition  of  men;  making  the  word 
of  God  of  none  effect,  through  your  tradition, 
which  ye  have  delivered;  and  many  such  like 
things  ye  do."  *  Here,  then,  is  the  fullest  authority 
for  us  to  conclude,  that  whosoever  exalts  the  cere- 
monial observance  of  the  ordinances  of  religion 
above  its  moral  duties,  perverts  the  establishment 
of  God,  and  throws  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way 
of  the  weak.  Here,  too,  we  have  the  most  ample 
warrant  to  say,  that  whosoever  attempts  to  annul 
the  sanctions  which  the  Almighty  has  connected 
with  any  of  the  commandments  given  to  us,  ag  the 
rule  either  of  our  faith  or  manners:  and  dispenses 
with  the  means,  whether  they  consist  in  the  obser-^ 
vance  of  forms,  or  the  obedience  of  precepts,  which 
are  ordained  for  the  maintenance  of  his  worship, 
and  the  public  ministration  of  his  word — throws 
open  the  flood-gates  of  moral  corruption  upon 
society,  and  gives  a  license  to  the  profane  to 
blaspheme  his  name. 

But  the  abuse  of  a  thing  is  no  argument  against 
its  utility ;  nor  are  any  of  the  crimes,  which  have 
been   perpetrated    under   the   name   of  religion, 

*  Matth.  XV.  and  Mark  vii.  6 — 15. 


179 

chargeable  upon  its  doctrines,  or  its  Author. 
Ignorance  may  misinterpret,  and  folly  and  profli- 
gacy may  pervert,  the  most  sacred  and  funda- 
mental laws  of  morality ;  but  the  majesty  and  the 
justice  of  God  are  immutable :  and  no  subterfuge, 
or  delusion,  or  falsehood,  on  our  part,  will  obtain 
for  us  a  repeal  or  relaxation  of  the  penalties  which 
he  has  denounced  against  the  transgression  of  his 
holy  and  righteous  commandments.  The  neglect 
of  the  external  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a 
day  of  rest  from  the  amusements  and  business  of 
society,  and  of  religious  meditation  and  worship, 
we  believe  to  be,  in  almost  every  case,  the  off- 
spring of  unbelief  and  profligacy:  and  we  conceive 
it  to  be,  neither  an  unfair  nor  harsh  explanation 
of  the  motives  of  those,  who  openly  contemn  the 
duties,  which  a  family  or  society  of  pious  indivi- 
duals perform  on  that  day,  to  ascribe  their 
conduct,  to  their  love  of  the  showy  varieties  of 
forbidden  pleasures,  and  their  habitual  indulgence 
in  them.  They  count  it  a  hard  thing  to  serve  the 
Lord,  at  the  expense  of  their  worldly  gratification; 
and  they  choose  rather  to  forego  the  blessings  of 
a  peaceful  and  holy  life,  than  be  restrained  from 
doing  their  own  ways,  finding  their  own  pleasures, 
and  speaking  their  own  words.  "  Because  they 
walked  not  in  my  statutes,  but  polluted  my  Sab- 
baths— because  their  priests  have  hid  their  eyes 


180 

from  my  Sabbaths,  and  I  am  profaned  among 
them — therefore  have  I  poured  out  my  indigna- 
tion upon  them — I  have  consumed  them  with  the 
fire  of  my  wrath — and  their  own  ways  have  I 
recompensed  upon  their  heads,  saith  the  Lord." 
"  Hear  this,  O  ye  that  swallow  up  the  needy, 
even  to  make  the  poor  of  the  land  to  fail.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  Keep  ye  judgment  and  do  justice: 
for  my  salvation  is  near,  and  my  righteousness  is 
about  to  be  revealed.  Blessed  is  the  man  that 
doeth  this,  and  the  son  of  man  that  layeth  hold 
on  this,  that  keepeth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting 
it,  and  keepeth  his  hand  from  doing  any  evil 
upon  it."  * 

No  man,  therefore,  who  entertains  a  just  sense 
of  the  obligations  of  the  divine  law,  or  who  is 
suitably  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  value  of 
the  benefits  which  he  has  received,  and  is  daily 
receiving,  from  the  bountiful  hand  of  his  Creator, 
can  live  regardless  of  that  day  of  sacred  rest, 
which  God  himself  has  sanctified  and  set  apart 
for  his  service.  The  reason  of  the  institution,  is 
founded  on  the  common  benefits  of  the  creation 
of  the  world,  and  the  redemption  of  man  ;  and, 
therefore,  the  obligations  to  its  observance,  apply 
to  all,  and  ought  to  be  obeyed  by  all.     Its  duties 


*   Books  of  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel. 


181 

are  alike  interesting,  instructive,  and  edifying  to 
all ;  and,  therefore,  no  elevation,  no  meanness  of 
rank,  can  exempt  or  exclude  from  them.  The 
youngest  and  the  oldest  are  equally  qualified  for 
their  performance ;  and  they  whose  hopes  are 
just  opening  to  the  joyful  scenes  of  this  life,  with 
those  whose  expectations  are  closing  in  disappoint- 
ments, or  whose  enjoyments  have  just  ended  in 
sadness,  may  alike  derive  encouragement  and  con- 
solation, from  the  holy  exercises  in  which  it  should 
be  spent.  But,  since  all  ages,  and  ranks,  and  sexes, 
are  thus  interested  in  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  it 
seems  evident,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  that 
one  of  the  most  prominent  distinctions  of  the  day, 
should  be  a  cessation  from  the  ordinary  engage- 
ments and  business  of  the  world ;  because,  if  all 
were  occupied,  as  they  ought  to  be,  about  the 
duties  of  devotion,  and  the  concerns  of  an  eternal 
world,  none  would  have  any  leisure  for  secular 
employment  or  pleasure.  Accordingly,  the  strictest 
prohibition  was  issued  by  the  Mosaic  law,  against 
all  servile  labour  and  worldly  amusement,  and, 
as  we  have  already  noticed,  capital  punishment 
was  actually  inflicted,  at  an  early  period,  on  one 
who  ventured  to  profane  the  ordinance,  by  gather-f 
ing  fire- wood  in  the  wilderness.* 

*  Num.  XV.  32 — 37. 


18^ 

Rigour  and  severity  characterized,  in  a  high 
degree,  the  Jewish  law;  and  although  these  seemed 
only  suited  to  the  rude  manners  of  an  uncivilized 
people,  and  were  particularly  well  adapted  to  the 
refractory  and  turbulent  spirit  of  the  Jews,  yet, 
in  the  days  of  our  Saviour,  the  rigour  of  the  law 
itself,  was  surpassed  by  the  rigour  of  popular 
superstition  and  pharisaical  hypocrisy;  and  the 
omission  or  neglect  of  a  mere  ceremonial  rite,  was 
accounted  more  criminal  than  the  disregard  or 
transgression  of  the  most  obligatory  duties  of 
moral  justice  and  benevolence.  We  are  not  of 
opinion,  that  there  is  much  danger  of  the  present 
generation  of  men  falling  into  an  error  of  this 
sort;  though,  we  are  thoroughly  convinced,  that  a 
pharisaical  spirit,  has,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
distinguished  professing  Christians  of  every  age. 
The  Sabbaths  of  the  Jewish  church,  are  abolished 
under  the  Gospel;  and  its  disciples  are  released 
from  the  frivolous  and  unprofitable  rules  of  cere- 
monial rigour,  which  the  superstitious  zeal  of  the^ 
ancient  Pharisees  attempted  to  render  obligatory. 
The  Christian  law  is  the  law  of  liberty ;  and,  in 
judging  of  the  measure  of  obedience  due  to  the  ^ 
fourth  commandment,  we  are  not  to  follow  the 
letter  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  nor  the  false  interpre- 
tations and  glosses  which  men  of  narrow  and 
misguided  understandings,  have  superinduced  upon 


183 

it.    We  have  the  express  authority  and  example  of 
our  Lord,  to  use  a  pious  discretion  as  our  guide, 
in  the  sanctification  of  this  holy  day ;  and  it  is  on 
this  account,    we  apprehend,    that  some  writers 
have   weakened,    rather   than   strengthened,    the 
obligations  to  its  observance,    by  a  minute  and 
unauthorised  detail  of  those  domestic  and  personal 
duties,  to  the  performance  of  which,  it  should  be 
devoted.      Every  true  believer,    who   "  exercises 
himself,  so  as  to  have  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
towards  God  and  towards  man,"  will  constantly 
keep  in  view  the  end  of  the  institution,  viz.  the 
commemoration  of  the  creating  power  and    the 
redeeming  grace  of  God,  and  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  holiness,  and  the  knowledge  of  salva- 
tion among  men:  but,  perhaps,  it  is  as  difficult,  and 
as  unwise,  for  one  man  to  lay  down  specific  rules 
for  the  government  of  every  part  of  another  man's 
conduct,   on  this  subject,   as  it  would  be  to  pre- 
scribe the  particular  amount  of  alms,  or  of  charity, 
which,  in  every  instance,  he  is  bound  to  contribute 
for  the  relief  of  the  distresses  and  miseries  of  the 
poor. 

We  have  said,  that  the  rigour  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  as  it  was  observed  by  the  Pharisees  in 
the  days  of  our  Saviour,  cannot  be  taken  as  our 
rule  under  the  Christian  dispensation;  but  we 
would,  by  no  means,  be  understood  to  say,  that 
Q  2 


184 

the  rules  prescribed  to  the  ancient  church,  on  this 
head,  have  no  application  to  us.  Even  taking  the 
Sabbath  as  a  patriarchal  institution,  possessing  a 
sanctity  independent  of  the  Levitical  law,  the  first 
condition  which  it  imposes  on  man,  is,  a  suspension 
of  the  ordinary  business  of  life.  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  because  on  it  he 
rested  from  all  the  works  he  had  made.  And, 
surely,  under  the  sanction  of  such  an  example, 
such  a  cessation  from  secular  employments  and 
pleasures,  should  be  enforced  on  all  ranks  of  men, 
as  may  leave  none  under  the  necessity  or  tempta- 
tion of  neglecting,  on  this  day,  the  public  worship 
of  God.  And  here  I  cannot  help  observing,  that, 
if  it  were  our  province  to  point  out  the  moral  phi- 
losophy, or  the  political  expediency  of  this  institu- 
tion, it  might  be  easily  shown,  that  its  utility 
demonstrates  its  wisdom,  and  that  its  wisdom 
infallibly  establishes  its  divine  origin  and  authority. 
But  I  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  these  points 
more  particularly  hereafter,  and  I  forbear,  at  pre- 
sent, enlarging  upon  them. 

The  worship  of  God,  the  highest  exercise  in 
which  men  can  engage,  is  the  principal  duty  it 
enjoins ;  but  a  most  important,  though  a  secondary 
object  of  its  appointment,  is,  a  relief  to  the  toil- 
some condition  of  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  by 
the  intermission  of  their  daily  labours.     "  Thou 


185 

shalt  rest  on  the  seventh  day,"  said  the  law,  "  that 
the  son  of  thy  handmaid,  and  the  stranger  may 
be  refreshed ;"  and  by  this  injunction,  founded  on 
the  purest  philanthropy,  and,  therefore,  as  surely 
binding  on  Christians  as  on  Jews,  provision  is 
made  for  the  bodily  refreshment,  and  moral  in- 
struction, of  the  destitute  and  hard-wrought  classes 
of  the  community.  It  was  a  principle,  avowed  and 
inculcated  by  heathen  morality,  that,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  our  dominion  over  the  lower  animals,  we 
are  at  liberty  to  follow  our  own  profit  and  pleasure, 
without  the  least  regard  to  the  hardships  or  priva- 
tions to  which  they  may  be  exposed.  Revelation 
has  taught  and  enjoined  a  more  humane  principle, 
and  one  which  finds  a  ready  answer  from  the  breast 
of  every  Christian,  "  On  the  seventh  day,"  said 
the  law,  "  thou  shalt  rest,  that  thine  ox  and  thine 
ass  may  rest."  "  A  righteous  man,"  Solomon 
adds,  "  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast ;"  and  as 
there  can  be  no  reason  why  the  cattle  of  Judea 
should  be  treated  with  more  tenderness  than  the 
kindred  animals  of  other  countries,  wherever 
a  just  sense  of  the  obligations  of  the  Sabbath  is 
entertained,  we  shall  not  find  the  inferior  creatures 
subjected,  on  that  day,  for  their  master's  con- 
venience or  pleasure,  to  the  same  severity  of  toil 
as  is  imposed  on  them  during  the  days  of  ordinary 
labour. 

Q  3 


186 

But,  confining  our  remarks  more  particularly  to 
ourselves,  I  would  briefly  mention,  that  the  sus- 
pension  of  our  worldly  business,  is  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  duty,  which  must  distinguish   our 
observance  of  the  Sabbath.     An  abstinence  from 
worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures,  is  strictly  enjoined; 
and,  without  this,    the  duty  of  self-examination 
cannot  be  faithfully  or  profitably  discharged.    The 
heart  is  the  seat  of  all  transgression,  and  the  end 
of  the  Sabbath  cannot  be  better  fulfilled,  than  by 
restraining  and  reforming  its  evil  tendencies.     All 
imaginations  and  thoughts,  therefore,  which  are 
unsuitable  to  the  holy  exercises  of  devout  medita- 
tion, thanksgiving,  and  praise,  should,  as  far  as 
human  imperfection  will  permit,  be  excluded  from 
our  minds.    Lukewarmness  and  indifference  should 
be  banished  from  our  affections — an    ardour   of 
feeling,   inspired  by  a  sense  of  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  the  divine  attributes,  should  give  excite- 
ment to  our  piety  and  our  gratitude;    and  the 
remembrance  of  the  wonderful  work  which  God 
hath  wrought  for  us — in   creating  around   us  so 
many  comforts  and  joys — in  preserving  us  from 
temporal  evils,    and   redeeming  us  from  eternal 
wrath — should  teach  us,  habitually  to  esteem  the 
Sabbath  a  delight,  to  hail  it  as  the  holy  of  the 
Lord,  *'  honourable,  and  to  honour  him,  not  doing 
our  own  ways,   nor  finding  our   own  pleasures, 


187 

nor  speaking  our  own  words."  For,  if  worldly 
cares  distract  us,  if  sinful  pleasures  enslave  us, 
or  servile  employments  engross  our  time  and 
attention,  the  offerings  of  a  mind  so  beset,  must 
be  vain,  and  all  its  incense  an  abomination  to  the 
Most  High. 

But  a  suspension  of  secular  employments,  and 
a  renunciation  of  sinful  thoughts  and  pleasures, 
are  not  all  that  is  required  of  us.  The  duties  of 
the  Sabbath,  are  not  of  a  negative  kind;  and  if  our 
own  conscience,  or  public  opinion,  on  the  com- 
mandments of  God,  restrain  us  from  ordinary 
pursuits  and  amusements,  they  must  also  restrain 
us  from  an  indulgence  in  sloth  and  idleness.  The 
end  of  the  institution  may  be  frustrated,  as  well  by 
petty,  as  by  gross  violations  of  its  conditions ;  and 
it  is  surely  a  most  unseemly  sight  to  witness  pro- 
fessing Christians  devoting  the  day,  sacred  to  its 
observance,  to  the  animal  enjoyments  of  the 
sluggard,  who  knows  no  higher  happiness,  than 
that  of  rising  up  to  eat,  and  lying  down  to  sleep. 
The  Sabbath  was  ordained  as  the  means  of  glorify- 
ing God,  by  promoting  holiness  in  man,  and 
training  him  to  a  meetness  for  the  heavenly  king- 
dom; but  a  sluggish  indulgence  in  animal  ease 
and  indolence,  sinks  us  to  a  level  with  the  brute 
creation,  and  defeats  the  end  of  the  wisest  and 
the  holiest  of  the  divine  institutions,  by  leading  us 


188 

to  disregard  the  glory  and  the  honour  of  the 
Creator,  and  our  own  temporal  welfare  and  eternal 
salvation.  On  this  day,  then,  are  we  especially 
bound  to  be  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord, 
"  rejoicing  in  hope,  and  continuing  instant  in 
prayer;"  considering  one  another,  to  provoke  unto 
love  and  to  good  works;  "drawing  near  unto 
God,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies 
washed  as  with  pure  water."  * 

It  is  almost  needless  to  add,  that  a  peculiar 
obligation  lies  upon  us,  to  abjure,  on  this  day, 
those  sins,  which,  on  other  occasions,  are  most 
apt  to  beset  and  ensnare  us.  If  we  are  bound  to 
abstain  from  employments,  and  amusements,  which 
are  lawful  on  other  days,  much  more  are  we  bound 
to  abstain  from  those  which  we  know  to  be  sinful. 
The  very  nature  of  the  institution,  the  solemn 
consecration  of  the  day  by  the  Almighty,  to  his 
own  service,  with  the  advantages  which  it  affords 
for  the  attainment  of  religious  instruction,  and  for 
the  performance  of  pious  duties,  furnish  such  a 
host  of  motives  to  the  renunciation  of  all  un- 
righteousness of  heart  and  of  life,  as  cannot  be 
resisted,  without  the  accumulation  of  very  aggra- 
vated guilt.     Every  act  of  transgression,  therefore, 

*  See  Note  D. 


189 

which  we  commit  on  this  day,  must  be  heightened 
in  criminality  by  the  fact,  that  we  have  sinned 
with  fewer  temptations  to  its  commission,  and 
more  restraints  from  its  indulgence,  than  are  pre- 
sented to  us  on  other  seasons ;  and  if  we  have  any 
regard  to  the  majesty  and  justice  of  God,  and  any 
dread  of  our  own  future  condition,  as  immortal 
and  accountable  creatures,  this  is  a  consideration, 
which  will  have  a  serious  and  profitable  effect 
on  our  general  sentiments  and  conduct.  "  Ye 
shall  keep  the  Sabbath ;  for  it  is  holy  unto  you. 
Whoever  defileth  it,  or  doeth  any  work  therein, 
that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  amongst  his  people." 
As  a  day  of  public  worship,  the  duties  of  the 
Sabbath  are  universally  known;  and  it  would, 
therefore,  be  altogether  superfluous,  to  expound 
or  detail  them  here.  In  ancient  times,  the  law 
and  the  prophets  were  read  in  the  synagogue, 
and  God  was  reverenced  and  praised  in  the  assem- 
blies of  his  saints.  A  day  spent  in  his  courts,  was 
esteemed  better  than  a  thousand;  and  while  they 
uttered  abundantly  the  memory  of  his  great  good- 
ness, and  sung  of  his  righteousness,  they  went  on 
from  strength  to  strength,  every  one  in  Zion  appear- 
ing before  God.  In  the  times  of  the  apostles,  the 
Christian  Sabbath  was  celebrated  by  the  singing 
of  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs.  Our 
Lord  himself,  distinguished,  by  his  gracious  pre- 


190 

sence  and  blessing,  the  first  weekly  return  of  the 
day  of  his  resurrection;  and  the  feast  of  Pentecost, 
which  happened  to  be  the  day  of  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  same  event,  was  peculiarly  signalized 
by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  a  large 
addition  to  the  church,  of  those  who  should  be 
saved.  On  these  special  manifestations  of  the 
divine  power  and  goodness  to  the  early  disciples 
of  the  church,  we  mean  to  found  no  claims  or 
hopes  of  similar  transcendant  blessings  in  the 
present  day;  but  we  have  the  promise  of  God 
himself,  extending  to  believers  in  every  age  and 
climate,  that,  if  we  obey  his  voice,  and  keep  his 
statutes,  and  his  ordinances,  we  shall  be  a  peculiar 
treasure  unto  him,  above  all  people. 

On  every  weekly  return  of  the  day  of  the 
resurrection,  the  disciples  came  together  with  one 
accord,  to  one  place;  and  they  commemorated 
the  dying  love  of  the  Redeemer — they  read  and 
expounded  the  doctrines  of  salvation — they  col- 
lected alms  for  the  necessities  of  their  poorer 
brethren,  and  gave  a  practical  illustration  of  the 
benignant  and  charitable  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  by 
sending  them  relief  according  to  their  ability. 
Now,  what  was  their  duty,  assuredly  is  ours;  and 
the  holy  exercises  and  services  in  which  they  spent 
the  day,  it  is  especially  incumbent  on  us  to  observe, 
and  perform  in  spirit  and  in  truth.     Their  example 


191 

has  reached  us  with  all  the  authority  and  recom- 
mendation of  a  divine  precept;  and  if  they  called 
the  day  of  the  Lord  a  delight,  and  honourable, 
and  abstained  on  it  from  doing  their  own  ways, 
and  finding  their  own  pleasures,  we  are  thereby 
bound  to  join  ourselves  to  the  Lord,  and  to  serve 
him,  by  keeping  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it, 
and  withholding  our  hand  from  doing  evil  upon  it. 
"  For,  his  righteousness  has  been  revealed,  and 
his  salvation  has  come  unto  us."  "  This,  indeed,  is 
the  day  which  the  Lord  has  made;  in  it  we  will  be 
glad,  and  rejoice."  And  how  can  we  more  becom- 
ingly or  dutifully  express  our  gladness  and  joy, 
than  by  entering  the  gates  of  his  house,  with 
thanksgiving,  and  his  courts  with  praise?  The 
tidings  of  the  Gospel,  are  tidings  of  great  joy  to 
every  people.  But  how  shall  the  great  bulk  of 
mankind  believe  in  Him,  of  whom  they  have 
not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a 
preacher?  Faith,  says  the  highest  authority, 
cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of 
God.  How  beautiful,  then,  upon  the  mountains, 
are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the  Gospel  of 
peace,  that  publish  salvation,  and  say  unto  Zion, 
Thy  God  reigneth?  *  The  duties  of  the  sanctuary 
must  have  a  paramount  obligation  over  the  con- 

♦  Isaiah  lii.  7. 


192 

science  and  the  conduct  of  all  men;  because,  it 
is  there  the  word  of  eternal  life  is,  under  the 
blessing  of  God,  most  effectually  and  successfully 
explained;  and  there  also,  is  it  most  meekly  and 
faithfully  received. 

On  the  Sabbath,  we,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  are 
bound  to  hold  a  holy  convocation,  and  to  give  to 
the  Lord  the  glory  due  unto  his  name,  by  bringing 
into  his  courts  an  oifering  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise.  On  the  Sabbath,  we  are  bound,  affection- 
ately and  kindly  to  consider  the  condition  of  one 
another,  that  we  may  provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works,  "  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves 
together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is;"  and  to  the 
regular  and  punctual  discharge  of  this  duty,  we 
are  excited  and  encouraged  by  this  cheering  and 
delightful  promise,  "  Where  two  or  three,"  (a  defi- 
nite put  for  an  indefinite  number,)  "  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I,  in  the  midst  of 
them."  *  Oh,  then,  who  would  not  renounce  the 
business  and  the  pleasures  of  this  world,  that  he 
might  join  in  the  holy  exercises,  and  taste  the  pure 
and  peaceful  joys  of  heaven?  Who  would  not 
renounce  the  company  of  sinners,  that  he  might 
join  the  company  of  saints;  and  banish  from  his 
thoughts,  the  cares,  the  toils,  and  the  amusements 

*  Matth.  xviii.  20. 


193 

of  life,  that  he  might  hold  fellowship  with  the 
Father,  and  with  the  Son,  Jesus  Christ?  "  Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I,  in  the  midst  of  them !  "  Here  is  the 
union  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  realization  of 
all  the  promises  and  blessings  foretold  in  ancient 
times,  when  the  house  of  God  was  to  become  a 
house  of  prayer  for  all  people,  and  their  offerings 
were  to  be  accepted,  and  all  were  to  be  made 
joyful  in  the  hope  and  enjoyment  of  his  favour 
and  loving-kindness.  Here  is  the  most  exalted 
and  ennobling  cause  that  can  give  excitement  to  the 
energies  and  the  virtues  of  the  human  mind;  which, 
at  once,  gives  dignity  and  sublimity  to  all  our 
moral  and  religious  sentiments,  and  purifies  the  soul 
of  the  dross  of  earthly  passion,  and  elevates  it  to 
those  pure  and  permanent  sources  of  delight  which 
spotless  and  immortal  intelligences  participate. 

Who,  then,  so  callous  to  all  that  is  connected 
with  his  present  and  everlasting  felicity,  as  to  live 
regardless  of  a  duty,  which,  more  than  any  other, 
spreads  a  sacred  tranquillity  over  his  feelings,  and 
lifts  !iim  above  the  vexations  and  distractions  of 
life?  Who  is  there  that  believes  he  is  a  traveller 
to  another  country,  whence  sorrow  and  sickness, 
and  disappointment  and  dread,  are  entirely,  and 
for  ever  excluded — and  who  yet  does  not  feel 
disposed  to  retire,  occasionally,  from  the  crowded 
R 


194. 

scenes  of  festivity  and  folly,  which  satiate,  but  do 
not  satisfy,  his  wishes;  and  to  devote  the  undis- 
turbed affections  of  his  soul  to  the  anticipation  of 
the  exercises  and  the  enjoyments  of  the  blessed? 
Can  we  remember  our  origin,  and  not  think  of  our 
destination?  Can  we  reflect  on  the  wearinesses  and 
the  miseries  of  our  present  condition,  and  not  cast 
our  views  forward  to  that  land  of  everlasting  rest, 
into  which  there  shall  never  enter  any  thing  that  can 
defile  the  purity,  or  interrupt  the  praises,  of  the  re- 
deemed; where  they  shall  hunger  no  more,  and  faint 
no  more;  but  where  God,  who  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,  shall  feed  them,  and  lead  them  to  living 
fountains  of  waters?  Can  we  live  amidst  the 
changes  and  the  perils  of  this  world,  alternately 
the  dupes  of  its  hopes,  and  the  victims  of  its 
despair,  and  not  seek  to  soften  our  anxieties,  and 
to  swallow  up  our  fears,  by  meditating  on  those 
promises  of  undisturbed  enjoyment,  and  holy 
serenity,  which  shall  all  be  realized  when  we  enter 
that  city,  which  is  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens?  "  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles, 
O  Lord  of  Hosts!  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even 
fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord;  my  heart  and 
my  flesh  cry  out  for  the  living  God.  The  voice 
of  joy  and  salvation  is  in  the  assembly  of  the 
righteous;  and  the  incense  of  their  offering,  rises 
as  a  sweet  memorial  to  the  skies.     Open  to  me, 


195 

then,  the  gates  of  righteousness,  and  I  will  go  in. 
There  will  I  praise  the  Lord.  I  will  offer  to  him 
the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  and  pay  my  vows  in 
the  presence  of  all  his  people." 

Does,  then,  the  duty  of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath, 
possess,  in  our  estimation,  the  authority  of  a  divine 
commandment?  Do  we  testify,  by  our  conduct, 
that  the  consecration  of  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
is,  to  us,  who  have  professed  the  name  and  the 
religion  of  Jesus,  an  act  of  indispensable  moral 
obligation;  and  do  we  exemplify  the  devotional 
sentiments  which  its  recurrence  should  inspire,  by 
joining  in  the  assemblies  of  those  by  whom  the 
Lord  is  greatly  feared,  and  uniting  in  the  praises 
of  the  faithful,  by  whom  he  is  constantly  held  in 
reverence?  Does  the  hallowed  morning  beam 
upon  us  with  a  sanctifying  influence,  and  do  we 
inhale  the  serenity  of  bliss  from  the  peaceful 
sweetness  that  overspreads  the  surrounding  land- 
scape? Do  the  songs  of  gratitude,  which  enliven 
the  stillness  of  the  adjoining  scenery,  awaken  in 
our  hearts  the  memory  of  the  loving-kindness  of 
God;  and  do  our  affections  ascend,  with  our  songs, 
to  the  regions  of  unfading  and  uninterrupted 
felicity?  Do  we  imbibe  a  holy  ardour  and  delight, 
when  we  rise,  unencumbered  by  the  cares  and  the 
toils  of  life — and  does  the  sacredness  of  our  senti- 
ments, spring  from  the  well-grounded  hope  of  sal- 
R  2 


196 

vation,  which,  like  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  stays  and 
supports  us  under  all  the  storms  and  disappoint- 
ments of  time;  and  carries  us  within  the  haven  of 
eternal  safety,  whitherourfore-runner  is  gone?  Does 
the  grave  of  our  Saviour  rise  to  our  view,  stripped 
of  all  the  frowning  horrors  with  which  it  was  once 
invested;  and  do  the  life  and  immortality  which 
his  resurrection  brought  to  light,  dissipate  all  our 
doubts  of  the  efficacy  of  the  offering  which  he 
has  made  for  our  sins,  and  give  confidence  to  all 
our  expectations  of  the  glory  which  his  second 
coming  shall  reveal? 

While  the  remembrance  of  his  sufferings,  fills 
us  with  an  abhorrence  of  iniquity,  does  not  the 
commemoration  of  his  triumphs  encourage  and 
embolden  us  in  the  career  of  holiness  and  virtue? 
Have  we  considered,  that  it  was  not  the  sins  of 
those  alone,  by  whom  he  was  persecuted,  nor  the 
sins  of  those,  who,  in  former  ages,  had  outraged 
the. justice  of  God,  and  done  despite  to  his  for- 
bearance and  mercy,  which  agonized  his  Spirit 
under  the  hidings  of  his  father's  face,  and  made 
him  sorrowful,  even  unto  death?  Is  it  possible  we 
can  believe,  that  his  death  had  a  prospective,  as 
well  as  a  retrospective  effect — that  he  suffered  for 
the  expiation  of  sins,  which  we  have  committed, 
as  well  as  for  the  expiation  of  those  which  had 
been  perpetrated  antecedent  to  his  appearance  on 


197 

the  earth — and  yet  not  experience  bitterness  and 
anguish  arise  within  us,  when  we  count  over  the 
times  in  which  we  have  stained  the  purity  of  our 
own  character,  and  crucified  afresh  the  Saviour  of 
our  souls?  Can  we  remember,  that  he  died,  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  life; 
can  we  consider,  that  the  guilt  of  our  unrighteous 
doings,  (for  which,  we  ourselves  could  never  have 
offered  an  atonement,)  overwhelmed  and  wrung 
his  holy  and  immaculate  Spirit,  when  the  justice 
of  heaven  frowned  upon  him  with  all  the  sternness 
of  unmitigated  severity,  and  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness leagued  against  him,  and  thickened  around 
him,  as  the  victim  of  their  enmity  and  wrath — and 
yet  feel  no  indignation  at  the  causes  by  which  we 
arrayed  the  God  of  mercy  in  all  the  insignia  of 
judgment,  and  obstinately  persevere  in  the  perpe- 
tration of  deeds,  which  will  assuredly  seal  us  in 
everlasting  perdition?  Does  not  this  holy  day 
recal  to  our  minds  the  triumphs  which  the  Saviour 
gained  over  the  first  death,  and  the  deliverance 
which  he  secured  to  us  from  the  second  death,  and 
can  we  allow  its  grateful  recollections  to  pass  from 
our  memory,  without  bedewing  our  affections 
with  the  sanctifying  influences  of  a  devout  and 
reverential  celebration  of  his  love? — In  a  word, 
does  the  meeting  of  the  saints  on  this  day,  and 
the  holy  exercises  in  which  they  join,  bring  to  our 
R  3 


198 

minds  no  associations  of  that  last  meeting,  and 
those  everlasting  exercises,  which  await  the  faithful 
in  the  land  of  uninterrupted  and  unfading  rest? 
Do  no  feelings  of  gratitude  and  delight  arise 
within  us,  when  we  hear  the  praises  of  the  Re- 
deemer chaunted  in  strains  of  simple,  but  not 
ungrateful  melody?  And  do  no  emotions  of  glad- 
ness stir  within  our  cold  and  unawakened  breasts, 
when  the  sound  of  holy-bell  admonishes  and 
summons  us  to  go  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  to 
behold  his  beauty,  and  to  inquire  reverently  in 
his  temple? 

We  dare  not  say,  that  this  is  the  generation  of 
those,  whose  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth,  for 
the  courts  of  the  living  God — who  rejoice  when 
it  is  said.  Let  us  go  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
that  we  may  give  unto  Him  the  glory  due  unto  his 
name,  and  appear  in  his  presence  with  thanks- 
giving, and  make  a  joyful  noise  unto  him,  with 
Psalms.  There  is  a  generation  of  men  among  us, 
who  are  wise  in  their  own  conceit;  and  yet,  their 
hearts  and  their  ways  are  not  right  with  God. 
They  neither  remember  the  statutes  that  were 
given  to  Israel,  nor  observe  the  ordinances  and 
the  laws  of  the  God  of  our  salvation.  They  are 
like  the  deaf  adder,  that  stoppeth  her  ear,  and 
will  not  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charm- 
ing ever  so  wisely.     But  the  causes  and  the  conse- 


199 

quences  of  the  conduct  of  those  who  despise  the 
ordinances,  and  profane  the  Sabbaths  of  the  Lord, 
are  of  such  magnitude,  and  so  seriously  affect  the 
moral  and  political  character  of  society  in  general, 
as  to  demand,  in  a  treatise  of  this  kind,  a  separate 
and  particular  examination.  We  shall,  therefore, 
in  the  next  Section,  attempt,  briefly,  to  review  a 
few  of  the  most  flagrant  cases  of  the  neglect  and 
profanation  of  the  day  of  sacred  rest,  in  the  hope, 
that  the  delineation  and  exposure  of  a  growing 
evil,  may,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  have  some 
effect  in  restraining  and  suppressing  it. 


200 


SECTION   XL 

Examination  of  some  of  the  Causes  and  Consequences 
of  the  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 

If  we  were  iasked,  to  what  cause  we  would  ascribe 
the  very  general  neglect,  which  is  manifested 
throughout  almost  all  Christian  countries,  for  the 
Sabbath,  as  a  day  of  holy  rest,  and  of  public  reli- 
gious duty,  we  would  shortly  answer — to  the  want 
of  religious  principle — to  the  total  absence  of  a 
hallowed  reverence  for  the  authority  of  God,  and 
a  just  sense  of  the  sanctions  and  obligations  of  his 
laws — to  the  predominance,  in  a  word,  of  profane 
and  licentious  dispositions  and  habits  over  the 
feelings  and  the  exercises  of  piety,  and  the  desires 
and  the  enjoyments  of  holiness.  And,  in  this  view, 
the  causes  of  the  trangression  of  the  fourth  com- 
mandment, are  exactly  the  same  with  those  which 
may  be  assigned  for  the  transgression  of  all  the 
others;  with  this  additional  aggravation,  that  the 
guilt  of  the  transgression,  in  the  last  instance, 
may  be  traced,  very  generally,  to  the  first;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 


201 

leads  the  way  for  the  indulgence  in  many  of  those 
crimes  which  spread  a  demoralizing  pestilence  over 
society,  and  drown  the  guilty  individuals  in 
wretchedness  and  perdition.  It  is,  on  this  account, 
necessary  to  examine  the  opinions  and  practices  of 
those,  who  have  thrown  away  the  obligations  to 
the  observance  of  the  holy  institution  in  question, 
and  opened  up  a  high  road  to  the  perpetration  of 
the  most  flagrant  and  destructive  vices.  Nor  is  it 
only  among  such  as  are  openly  profane,  that  we 
are  to  seek  the  causes  of  much  of  the  crime  which 
has  overrun  society,  from  the  desecration  of  the 
holy  Sabbath.  There  are  many,  who  bear  the 
name  of  Christians — who  rank  among  the  disciples 
of  the  Gospel,  and  who  are,  every  day,  sharing 
the  political  privileges  and  benefits  to  which  its 
profession  entitles  them — who  are  yet  among  its 
most  deadly  enemies,  and  by  whose  pernicious 
principles,  and  still  more  pernicious  example,  the 
ignorant  and  the  profligate  are  hardened  and  con- 
firmed in  their  career  of  impenitence  and  crime. 

Just  as  might  be  expected,  in  an  age  of , easy 
virtue,  and  formal  and  temporizing  manners,  there 
are  some  professors  of  the  Gospel  to  be  met  with, 
who  are  distinguished  for  nothing  but  lukewarm- 
ness  in  the  belief  and  practice  of  all  its  peculiar 
doctrines  and  duties,  and  who  regard  all  the 
public  ordinances  of  religion,  as  merely  ceremonial 


202 

in  their  nature,  and  unimportant  in  their  obliga- 
tions; while  others,  who  have  a  name  to  live, 
though  they  are  dead,  hesitate  not  to  say,  that 
they  are  of  very  doubtful  authority;  and,  conse- 
quently, quite  optional  in  the  observance.  Now, 
among  both  of  these  classes  of  persons,  it  is  easy 
to  see,  that  the  solemnities  of  religion  will  be  but 
indifferently  attended  to;  and  it  must  be  more 
from  motives  of  convenience  and  pleasure,  than 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  that  any  traces  of  public 
devotion  are  preserved  among  them.  The  morning 
of  the  resurrection  will  awaken,  in  their  breasts,  no 
cheering  anticipations  of  the  glory  which  awaits  the 
faithful  when  they  join  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first-born  above.  The  summons  to  go 
up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  that  they  may  know  his 
statutes,  and  walk  in  his  ways,  will  bring,  to  them, 
no  pleasing  recollections  of  the  happiness  which 
fills  and  animates  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
reverenced  and  obeyed  the  commandment  which 
enjoins  them  to  "  remember  the  Sabbath  to  keep 
it  holy."  A  sullen  deadness  and  desolation  per- 
vade all  the  faculties  and  affections  of  their  moral 
and  immortal  nature;  and  neither  do  the  assem- 
blies of  the  devout,  who  have  withdrawn  from  the 
anxiety  and  the  bustle  of  the  world,  that  they 
may  lift  their  souls  to  heaven,  in  adoration  of  the 
creating  and  preserving  power  of  Jehovah,  and 


203 

present  unto  him  the  holy  offering  of  thanksgiving, 
for  past  mercies,  and  of  supplication,  for  future 
protection — yield  them  any  assurance  or  foretaste 
of  those  holy  exercises  in  which  the  faithful  shall 
hereafter  join,  when  the  trials  and  afflictions  of 
this  transient  life  are  past;  nor  do  the  songs  of 
gratitude  and  praise,  which  ascribe  blessing,  and 
honour,  and  glory,  and  power  unto  Him  who  hath 
redeemed  us  to  God,  by  his  own  blood,  out  of 
every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation, 
kindle  up  any  desire  after  the  blessedness  of  those 
who  are  begotten  again  to  the  hope  of  an  inheri- 
tance, which  is  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  shall  never  fade  away. 

We  have  only  to  look  around  the  world  to  be 
satisfied,  there  is  good  reason  to  fear,  that  the 
cause  of  vital  religion,  is  fast  declining  among  all 
ranks  of  men.  There  are  some  who  will  not  con- 
descend to  enter  the  house  of  God,  on  more  than 
one  portion  of  the  Sabbath;  and  this  they  do,  we 
suppose,  from  an  idea,  that  it  would  not  be  fashion- 
able or  genteel,  to  be  seen  mingling  in  all  the 
common  exercises  of  religion  :  or  because  they 
wish  to  avoid  the  frightful  charge  of  being  metho- 
distical;  and  to  impress  their  neighbours  with 
nothing  more  than  an  ordinary  good  opinion  of 
their  piety.  There  are  others,  who,  without  being 
able  to  give  us  a  reason  for  it,  regard  the  public 


204 

ministrations  of  religion,  as  matters  of  pure  indif- 
ference, or  of  extremely  subordinate  interest;  and 
who,  accordingly,  only  join  in  them,  when  no 
personal  or  family  inconvenience  happens  to  en- 
cumber them,  and  when  they  are  in  what  is  called 
a  good  mood,  to  extract  some  entertainment  from 
a  sermon.  There  is  a  third  set,  and  we  wish  we 
could  say,  that,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  they 
were  the  most  insignificant,  as,  in  a  spiritual  point 
of  view,  they  are  assuredly  the  most  worthless, 
who,  at  no  time,  are  found  to  assemble  together, 
to  join  in  the  praises  of  the  Most  High — or  in  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  goodness  by  which  they 
are  preserved — or  in  the  supplication  of  that  mercy 
and  grace,  by  which  alone  they  can  be  saved. 
These  are  the  men,  whom  vanity  has  placed  alone 
in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and  who,  with  a  dead- 
ness  toward  all  that  is  pure  and  enlivening  in 
devotion,  and  a  disregard  of  all  that  is  tender  and 
soothing  in  the  hopes  and  consolations  of  religion, 
ask,  in  the  spirit  of  proud  and  insolent  defiance. 
Who  is  the  Lord,  that  we  should  obey  him?  These 
are  the  men,  among  whom  the  pride  of  human 
learning,  or  the  rapacious  desire  of  human  wealth, 
or  the  greediness  of  sinful  pleasures,  has  extin- 
guished the  graces  of  Christian  humility  and  holi- 
ness; and  who,  by  their  depraved  counsels,  and 
profane  lives,  dissolve  the  bonds  of  kindred  virtues, 


205 

which   combine   men   in   the   social   exercises  of 

reh'gion,  and  direct  their  exertions  and  their  hopes 

to  the  attainment  of  an  immortality  of  glory  and 

blessedness.     Wrapped  up  in  the  sordid  pursuits 

of  this  world,  and  labouring  only  for  the  meat 

that  perisheth,   they  shut  their  eyes  and  their  ears 

against  the  sight  and  the  service  of  the  sanctuary; 

and,  instead  of  consecrating  their  faculties  to  the 

blessful  employment  of  thanksgiving  and  praise, 

they  devote  them  to  the  selfish  calculations  of  their 

secular  gains,  or  the  noisy  enjoyments  of  sensual 

festivity   and    mirth  1      Behold,    they   have   said, 

what  a  weariness  is  it? — and  they  have  snuffed  at 

the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  of  hosts?     The  signal 

which  calls  the  pious  and  devout  into  the  house 

of  God,  to  lift  their  holy  offerings  to  heaven,  is  to 

them,  the  signal  to  fly  from   the  hearing  of  the 

voice  of  prayer ;  and  to  speed  their  way  to  some 

sequestered  or  distant  scene  of  merriment,  where 

they  may  indulge  the  riotings  of  their  profligacy, 

undisturbed  and  unawed  by  the  inspection  or  the 

censures  of  their  more  virtuous  and  pious  friends. 

But  why  should  I  talk  of  sequestered  or  distant 

scenes,  to  which  the  Sabbath-breaker  resorts  for 

the  enjoyment  of  his  unlawful  pleasures  ?     The 

violation  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  has  reached 

an   enormity  and  notoriety  unknown   in   former 

times.     "  The  temptation  to  the  crime,  among  the 

S 


206 

higher  ranks,  arising  from  a  certain  vanity  of 
appearing  great,  by  assuming  a  privilege  of  doing 
what  was  generally  forbidden,  no  longer  exists ; 
but  the  reverence  for  the  day  among  all  orders,  is 
extinguished,  and  the  abuse  goes  on,  from  the 
mere  habit  of  profaneness.  In  the  country,  the 
roads  are  crowded  on  the  Sunday,  as  on  any  other 
day,  with  travellers  of  every  sort.  The  devotion 
of  the  villages  is  interrupted  by  the  noise  of  the 
carriages  passing  through,  or  stopping  at  the  inns 
for  refreshment.  In  the  metropolis,  instead  of 
that  solemn  stillness  of  the  vacant  streets,  which 
might  suit,  as  in  our  fathers'  days,  with  the  sanctity 
of  the  day,  and  be  a  reproof  to  every  one  who 
should  stir  abroad,  but  upon  the  business  of  devo- 
tion, the  mingled  racket  of  worldly  business  and 
pleasure  is  going  on  with  little  abatement:  and 
in  the  churches  and  chapels  which  adjoin  the 
public  streets,  the  sharp  rattle  of  the  whirling 
phaeton,  and  the  graver  rumble  of  the  loaded 
waggon,  mixed  with  the  oaths  and  imprecations 
of  the  brawling  drivers,  disturb  the  congregation, 
and  stun  the  voice  of  the  preacher."  * 

Such  is  the  representation  which  an  English 
Prelate  has  given,  of  the  alarming  height  which 
the  crime  of  Sabbath-breaking  has  attained  in  the 

♦  Horsley's  Sermon  on  Mark  ii.  27. 


207 

South ;  and  to  the  same  height  will  it  soon  reach 
among  ourselves,  if  some  more  effectual  barrier  is 
not  opposed  to  it,  than  that  which  the  insulated 
efforts  of  a  few  pious  individuals  can  erect.  Yet, 
we  are  not,  from  this,  going  to  argue,  that  com- 
pulsory measures  are  necessary,  to  recal  a  back- 
sliding population  to  a  sense  of  the  duties  which 
they  owe  to  the  God  of  heaven  and  of  earth; 
neither  are  we  going  to  recommend  their  adoption, 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  more  devout  and 
reverential  observance  of  this  holy  day,  than  the 
majority  of  men  seem  to  consider  themselves  bound 
to  bestow.  We  know  that  there  is  much  delicacy 
necessary  to  be  observed  in  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  the  civil  magistrate,  in  all  matters  of 
moral  and  religious  belief.  We  have  too  much 
regard  to  the  peculiar  opinions  and  sentiments  of 
individuals,  to  wish  to  see  the  strong  arm  of  the 
civil  judge  interposed,  to  give  efficacy  to  the  argu- 
ments and  the  expostulations  of  the  Christian 
orator:  and  we  would  much  rather  witness  the 
spiritual  weapons  of  the  Gospel,  succeed  in  bringing 
men's  hearts  into  the  obedience  of  its  laws,  than 
the  sword  of  human  authority  employed  to  subdue 
them  into  an  external  observance  of  ordinances, 
with  the  sanctions  of  which,  the  general  disposr- 
tions  and  affections  of  their  minds  might  not  com- 
ply. But,  with  humility  and  respect,  we  submit 
s  2 


208 

it,  that  there  are  limits  to  this  scale  of  toleration : 
and  if  there  be  any  in  our  land,  who  are  notoriously 
growing  up  in  the  practice  and  propagation  of 
that  wickedness,  which  is  the  disgrace  and  the 
ruin  of  a  nation — patriotism,  and  policy,  and 
piety,  and  every  thing  which  binds  us  to  the  love 
of  God,  and  the  love  of  man,  call  upon  us,  by  every 
means  in  our  power,  to  check  and  subdue  it. 

Now,  is  it  not  notorious,  that  there  is  a  class  of 
persons,  and  that  a  very  large  class  too,  who 
habitually  spend  the  Sabbath  in  the  most  open 
and  unblushing  neglect  of  its  sacred  duties — who 
are  never  seen  to  cross  the  threshold  of  a  house 
of  public  worship,  and  whose  tongues  are  never 
heard  to  pronounce  the  name  or  the  ordinances 
of  God,  but  in  profaneness  and  blasphemy  ?  We 
assert  it,  without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  for  the 
vouchers  of  its  truth  are  too  numerous — we  assert 
it,  with  regret  and  sorrow,  for,  by  means  of  it, 
the  pillars  of  domestic  virtue,  and  of  social  happi- 
ness, are  alarmingly  broken  down  and  destroyed — 
that  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  is  a  growing 
evil,  both  among  the  highest  and  the  lowest  ranks 
of  society.  "  The  city  has  caught  the  manners  of 
the  court;  and  the  vices  of  the  high-born  peer, 
have  been  faithfully  copied  in  the  life  of  the  mer- 
chant and  the  tradesman."  Accordingly,  among 
the  lower  classes  of  the  people,  the  Sabbath  is,  in 


209 

many  places,  converted  into  a  day  of  idleness,  of 
dissipation,  and  riot.     By  some,  the  earnings  of 
the  week,  which  should  be  devoted  to  the  frugal 
maintenance  of  their  families,    are  spent  in   the 
worse  than  brutal  indulgence  of  the  lowest  of  their 
animal  appetites;  and  those  children,  whom,  by 
ties  of  parental  affection,  and  the  bonds  of  religious 
duty,  they  ought  to  nourish,  to  clothe,    and  to 
instruct,  are  left  to  poverty,  to  beggary,  and  pro- 
fligacy.    By  others,  the  signal  which  calls  us  to 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  is  hailed  as  the  signal 
for  them  to  repair  to  the  parks,  the  plantations, 
the  rivers,  and  high  roads  of  the  neighbourhood, 
where,    in    the   face   of  heaven,    they   alike   bid 
defiance  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  trespass  on  the 
possessions  and  property  of  man.    Is  there  no  way 
of  reaching  conviction  to  the  conscience  of  such 
persons,  and  no  means  of  restraining  them  in  the 
barefaced  commission  of  crime?     Is  it  nothing, 
thai  the  feelings  of  the  pious  should  be  wounded, 
as  they  are  journeying  to  the  house  of  God,  by 
the  insolent  derision  which  they  meet  from  these 
despisers  of  divine  and  human  authority  ?     Is  it 
nothing,  that  their  domestic  retirements  and  devo- 
tional exercises  should  be  disturbed  by  the  noisy 
and  guilty  excesses  of  men,  who  are  fast  bringing 
degradation  upon  themselves,  and  disgrace  upon 
the  society  to  which  they  belong? 
s  3 


S10 

The  end  of  all  law  is  to  protect  the  good  against 
the  bad ;  and  the  end  of  all  coercion  and  punish- 
ment should  be,  the  prevention  of  crime.     Why, 
then,  should  not  the  servants  of  God  be  protected 
in  the  performance  of  the  hallowed  duties  of  this 
holy  day,  from  the  unseemly  spectacle  of  men, 
who  are  grouped  together  in  the  work  of  pro- 
faneness  and  iniquity?      Why  should  not  their 
haunts  of  dissipation  be  shut  ?     Why  should  not 
their  resorts  of  impiety  and  lewdness  be  watched  ? 
Delicacy,  and  leniency,  and  forbearance,  are  lost 
upon  men,  who  are  devoid  of  moral  and  religious 
feeling,  and  who  would  violate  all  the  command- 
ments of  the  law,  as  unhesitatingly  as  they  do  the 
fourth^  provided  the  chances  of  escape  from  punish- 
ment were  the  same.     Hypocrisy  has  been  called 
the    homage    which    vice   pays   to   virtue ;    and 
wherever  mankind  have   not   become   altogether 
demoralized  in  principle  and  in  practice,   a  regard 
to  the  judgment  of  the  world,  will  constrain  them 
to  the  observance  of  an  external  decency  of  man- 
ners, which  even  the  judgments  and  the  statutes 
of  heaven  will  fail  to  procure.     But,  in  the  case  of 
the  individuals  to  whom  we  refer,  even  this,  the 
last  and  precarious  symptom  of  religious  feeling, 
is  not  to  be  found. 

A  disregard  of  the  public  ordinances  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  the  fruit  of  a  disregard  of  its  doctrines 


211 

and  laws :  and  when  once  men  have  blotted  out 
of  their  conscience,  all  reverence  and  dread  for  the 
authority  of  God,  they  will  not  long  continue  to 
respect  and  obey  the  authority  of  man.     Is  it  to 
be  believed,  that  they  who  openly  contemn  the 
periodical  celebration  of  the  rites  of  religion,   will 
continue  to  be  faithful  in  the  observance  of  its 
moral  duties?     Will  they  who  devote  the  whole 
of  the  Sabbath  to  idleness,  profaneness,  and  profli- 
gacy, devote  the  rest  of  the  week  to  industry  and 
honesty,  to  holiness,  temperance,  and  piety  ?    Will 
they  who  never  open  their  bibles  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week — nor  lift  their  voices  in  prayer  to  God 
upon  it — nor  join  in  the  meeting  of  the   saints 
upon  it — be  found,  on  the  days  of  their  ordinary 
employment,  perusing  the  records  of  their  fall  and 
their  redemption,    and  consecrating  their  leisure 
hours  to  the  peaceful  exercises  of  holy  meditation, 
and  striving,  in  all  things,  to  serve  the   God  of 
their  fathers  with  a  perfect  heart,  and  a  willing 
mind,  because  he  searcheth  all  hearts,  and  under- 
standeth   all  the  imaginations    of  our  thoughts  ? 
It  is  altogether  beyond  the  bounds  of  probability, 
to   admit  the  truth  of  one  of  these  suppositions* 
Whence,  we  would  ask,  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
attributes  and  providence,  of  the  laws  and  require- 
ments,   of  the  one  living  and   true  God,    to  be 
obtained,  but  from  the  book  which  he  has  given 


212 

us  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration,  as  the  rule  of  our 
faith  and  manners?  Where  are  the  duties,  which 
relate  to  ourselves,  to  our  fellow-men,  and  to  our 
Maker,  so  fully  or  so  forcibly  explained,  as  in  the 
houses  which  are  consecrated  to  the  services  of 
praise,  and  prayer,  and  preaching  ?  But  what  can 
be  expected  from  men,  who  have  deserted  the  one, 
and  cast  away  the  other?  If  they  have  placed 
themselves  beyond  the  reach  of  hearing  the  pro- 
mises and  admonitions,  the  commandments  and 
the  penalties,  of  the  divine  law— -if  they  have  shut 
their  eyes  against  that  volume  which  instructs 
them  in  the  nature  of  sin,  and  the  way  of  salva- 
tion— are  they  not  in  the  broad  road  to  crime 
and  wretchedness  in  this  world,  and,  if  divine 
mercy  prevent  not,  to  perdition  and  wretchedness 
in  the  next?  Yes;  we  may  be  assured,  that,  where- 
ever  all  regard  to  the  public  ordinances  of  religion, 
is  obliterated  from  the  minds  of  the  lower  classes 
of  society — there  we  shall  in  vain  seek  for  any 
traces  of  the  fear  and  reverence  of  God's  laws. 
With  the  bulk  of  mankind,  infidelity  in  opinion, 
and  profaneness  in  practice,  are  closely  allied,  and 
the  registers  of  all  our  Newgates  and  Bridewells, 
inform  us,  that  the  most  atrocious  crimes  against 
the  laws  of  man,  have  originated  in  the  disregard 
and  denial  of  the  word  of  God.  The  rejection  of 
religious  belief,  is  the  forerunner  or  the  follower 


213 

of  the  destruction  of  moral  restraint;  and  if  the 
fear  of  the  wrath  of  God  in  the  world  to  come, 
has  lost  all  power  over  the  minds  of  men,  neither 
prisons,  nor  chains,  nor  scaffolds,  will  deter  them 
from  falsehood  and  perjury,  from  treason,  rapine, 
and  blood  !  Apostacy  from  God,  will  be  followed 
with  dishonesty  and  disloyalty  to  man:  and  he 
who  cares  not  for  the  torments  of  that  place,  where 
the  worm  never  dies,  and  the  fire  is  never  quenched, 
is  not  very  likely  to  be  shaken  in  his  purposes  of 
guilt  and  atrocity,  by  the  fear  of  an  earthly  tri- 
bunal, or  the  axe  of  an  earthly  executioner. 

In  illustration  of  this  statement,  I  might  refer 
to  events,  which  have  not  long  since,  occurred  in 
our  own  country,  and  recall  others,  which  may 
perhaps  be  forgotten.*  But  I  am  unwilling  to 
renew  the  horror,  which  the  contemplation  or  the 
recital  of  transactions,  that  have  added  a  fresh 
stain  to  the  degeneracy  of  human  nature,  is 
calculated  to  inspire ;  and  I  am  equally  unwilling 
to  travel  to  a  distance  for  proofs  of  a  statement, 
which  the  weekly  and  daily  observation  of  every 
individual,  may  readily  substantiate.  If  I  could 
succeed  in  calling  the  attention  of  those  who  have 
the  power  to  prescribe  the  remedy,  to  an  evil  of 
great  notoriety,  and  of  just  and  reasonable  com- 

•  See  Note  E. 


214 

plaint  among  the  best  disposed  part  of  the  com- 
munity, I  would  consider  myself  not  to  have  written 
in  vain:  and  if  it  should  be  found,  that  some  have 
grown  so  old,  and  so  obstinate,  in  the  sin  of  pro- 
faning the  ordinances  and  the  name  of  God,  as  to 
be  beyond  the  power  of  being  reclaimed,  I  would 
press,  the  more  closely,  the  necessity  which  lies 
upon  us,  to  check  and  subdue  the  spirit  of  impiety 
and  profligacy  which  is  fast  spreading  among  a 
young  and  rising  generation.*  But  I  forbear  to 
prolong  my  remarks  on  this  subject;  and  I  hasten 
briefly  to  examine  the  conduct  of  another  class  of 
persons,  who,  although  not  debased  by  the  vices 
and  profligacy  of  those  whose  characters  we  have 
just  been  reviewing,  are  yet  chargeable  with  no 
small  portion  of  the  crimes,  which  the  profanation 
of  the  Sabbath  has  engendered. 

In  the  foregoing  parts  of  this  Treatise,  I  have 
endeavoured,  (I  trust,  with  some  success,)  to  show, 
that  the  sanctification  of  this  day  is  a  duty,  of  as 
purely  moral  and  obligatory  a  nature,  as  is  the 
observance  of  any  commandment  of  the  law,  or 
any  precept  of  the  Gospel;  and  I  am  satisfied, 
that,  if  the  arguments  which  have  often  been  em- 
ployed on  this  subject,  were  brought  to  bear,  siniul- 
taneously  or  separately,  upon  the  understanding  of 

*  See  Note  F. 


215 

any  set  of  men,  who  are  not  altogether  dead  to 
moral  and  religious  sentiment — and  they  were 
asked,  whether  the  abstinence,  on  the  Lord's  day, 
from  all  works  of  worldly  profit  and  pleasure,  and 
the  regular  and  conscientious  attendance  on  the 

o 

public  ordinances  of  religion,  were  not  duties  of  a 
very  solemn  and  sacred  nature,  both  as  they  relate 
to  individuals,  and  to  society — they  would  unhesi- 
tatingly answer  in  the  affirmative.  Let  us  see, 
then,  how  the  matter  of  fact  stands,  with  this 
point  of  concession. 

In  many  parts  of  the  country,  it  has  long  been 
an  increasing  symptom  of  the  decline  of  vital 
religion  among  its  inhabitants,  that  great  numbers, 
both  of  the  high  and  the  low,  are  not  to  be  found 
within  the  walls  of  a  church,  except  at  the  approach 
of  a  particular  period  of  the  year,  when  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  dispensed.  By 
the  express  command  of  our  Saviour  himself,  this 
ordinance  was  instituted  among  his  followers,  as  a 
perpetual  memorial  of  his  body  that  was  broken, 
and  his  blood  that  was  shed  for  the  remission  of 
their  sins.  By  the  appointment  of  our  church, 
this  sacred  festival,  which  it  is  at  once  the  privi- 
lege of  all  true  believers  to  enjoy,  and  their  duty 
to  observe,  is  celebrated,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  different  congregations,  at  certain  fixed 
intervals  of  time.     We  do  not  believe,  that  there 


216 

is  any  thing  mystical  or  awful  in  the  celebration 
of  this  ordinance;  although  we  believe,  that  it 
certainly  requires  a  very  strict  and  solemn  exami- 
nation of  our  hearts  and  our  ways,  to  prepare  us 
for  a  worthy  participation  of  it.  It  is  by  a  pious 
and  acceptable  approach  to  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
that  we  discharge  the  vows,  which  our  parents,  on 
our  behalf,  took  upon  themselves,  when  they 
devoted  us  to  God  in  baptism.  It  is  by  this,  that 
we  redeem  the  pledges  which  were  then  given, 
that  we  should  be  trained  up  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord — and  it  is  by  this,  that,  in 
our  own  name,  and  on  our  own  account,  we  renew 
our  engagements,  to  walk  honestly  and  blamelessly 
in  all  the  ordinances  and  commandments  of  Him 
who  redeemed  us  from  all  our  iniquities,  that  he 
might  purify  us  unto  himself,  to  be  a  peculiar 
people,  zealous  in  good  works.  Now,  if  this  be 
any  thing  like  a  correct  account  of  the  nature  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  what  shall  we  think  of  the 
character  and  conduct  of  those,  who  scarcely  ever 
enter  a  house  of  public  worship,  except  at  the 
approach  of  the  period  of  its  celebration?  How 
have  they  been  employed  during  the  long  interval 
that  elapses  between  the  seasons  of  its  observance? 
In  their  estimation,  is  there  no  obligation  attached 
to  the  public  duties  of  any  other  Sabbath,  than  of 
that,  on  which  the  love,  the  sufferings,  and  the 


217 

death  of  the  Saviour,  are  peculiarly  commemorated; 
or  to  those  of  one  or  two  which  precede  and  follow 
it.     Is  it  from  an  obedience  to  the  commandment 
of  God,  and  from  a  devout  and  grateful  sense  of 
all  that  he  has  done  for  their  redemption  from  sin, 
and  their  restoration  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life, 
that  they  join  in  the  solemn  services  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  supper?     Or,  is  it  from  a  regard  to 
the  opinion    of  men,  and  a  desire  to  avoid   the 
imputation   of  infidels  and  reprobates,  who  have 
never  confirmed  their  baptismal  vows  by  a  personal 
dedication  of  themselves  to  the  fear  and  the  service 
of  God?     If  it  be  from  the  first  of  these  considera- 
tions, how  does  it  happen,  that  the  influence  of 
the  divine  authority  should  never  be  exemplified 
in  their  conduct,  but  at  one  or  two  periods  of  the 
year? — or  how  should  they   be  so   deluded   and 
infatuated,   as  to   imagine,   that  their  attendance 
upon  the  ordinances  of  God  on  one  Sabbath,  will 
serve  as  an  atonement  for  the  neglect  and  profana- 
tion of  them  on  others?     If  it  be  from  the  latter 
consideration,  how  still  more  deluded  are  they, 
when  they  suppose,  that  by  so  thin  a  veil  of  hypo- 
crisy, they  are  able  to  conceal  their  true  character 
from   the   scrutiny   and    the    reproach    of   their 
neighbour?     It  is  impossible  for  them  to  deceive 
God;  and,  in  this  case,  it  is  equally  impossible  for 
them  to  deceive  men.     Their  unoccupied  benches 
T 


21S 

testify  against  them;  and  when  the  period  comes 
at  which  they  choose  to  fill  them,  they  are  pointed 
at  by  the  most  careless,  and,  we  are  sorry  to  say, 
by  the  most  profane  in  the  congregation,  as  in  the 
way  of  a  sham  qualification  for  a  title  to  privileges, 
of  which  their  foregoing  conduct  has  declared 
them  to  be  altogether  unworthy. 

What  would  the  commander  of  an  army  thbik 
of  any  of  his   men   who  only  appeared  once  oi' 
twice  a  year  to  pass  muster,  at  the  general  inspec- 
tion, with  the  foolish  and  presumptuous  hope  of 
being  entitled  to  the  same  remuneration  for  duty, 
as  those  who  had  been  faithful  at  their  posts  during 
the  intervening  months?     What   would  any  one 
think  of  the  character  of  a  servant,  who  came  into 
his  employment  at  one  term,  and,  after  a  few  days* 
labour  in  the  affairs  of  the  household,  disappeared 
till  the  approach  of  the  next  term,  when,  by  a  few 
more  days'  assiduity  and  diligence  in  the  service  of 
the  family,  he  vainly  considered  himself  warranted 
unblushingly   to   ask   the  full  fees  of  his  office? 
These  cases  are  exactly  similar  to  the  one  I  have 
been  describing;   and   I  leave  it   to  the  general 
reader  to  say,  whether  they  whose  Sabbaths  are 
spent    in    idle   discourse,    in   profane    sports,    in 
pleasure  visits,  or  in  unnecessary  worldly  business, 
are  in  the  way  of  a   right   preparation   for   an 
acceptable  approach  to  that  holy  ordinance,  which 


^19 

was  instituted  as  a  pledge  of  the  Saviour's  love — - 
as  a  continual  remembrance  of  his  death — and  as 
the  source  of  spiritual  and  everlasting  consolation 
to  all  his  sincere  and  devout  disciples. 

But  there  is  one  or  two  more  classes  of  hearers 
to  whom  I   must  allude;  and,    with  a  very  few 
remarks  on  their  character,  and  the  consequences 
of  their  conduct,  I  shall  conclude  this  part  of  the 
subject.     The  persons  to  whom  we  first  refer,  are 
such  as  have  not  yet  advanced  so  far  in  a  profana- 
tion of  the  Sabbath,  as  to  absent  themselves  regu- 
larly from  the  house  of  public  worship.     If  we 
can  judge  from  their  conduct,  however,  (and  this  is 
the  only  clue  which  we  have  to  a  knowledge  of  their 
principles,)  they  seem  to  regard  the  public  minis- 
trations of  religion,  as   matters  of  very  inferior 
interest  and  obligation,  and  only  to  be  joined  in, 
when  no  personal  or  other  inconvenience  happens 
to  encumber  them;  or,  when  they  are  moved  by 
(what  we  have  heard  they  are  not  ashamed  to 
avow)  the  profane  curiosity  of  seeing  the  beauty 
and  fashion  of  the  parish;  or  the  selfish  and  pitiful 
consideration  of  informing  others,  that  they  are  the 
owners   of  some  long  uninhabited   and   desolate 
comCT  of  the  sanctuary. 

There  is  still,  however,  another  description  of 
persons,  for  whom  we  have  a  little  more  respect; 
and,  if  we  cannot  set  them  right,  we  should  be 
T  2 


220 

glad  to  know  their  reasons  for  continuing  wrong. 
With  a  punctuah'ty  which  is  praise- worthy,  so  far 
as  it  goes,  they  are  pretty  regular  in  their  atten- 
dance on  divine  worship,  on  one  part  of  the  Sab- 
bath; but,  with  a  punctuality  which  is  equally  cen- 
surable, they  are  as  regularly  absent  from  it  on  the 
other  part  of  the  Sabbath.     Now,  we  are  at  a  loss 
to  understand  whence  the  ideas  of  such   persons, 
respecting  the  sanctification  of  this  day,  have  been 
formed,    and    how   far    they    extend.     Do   they 
imagine,  that,  by  going  to  the  house  of  God  in 
the  morning,  they  gain  a  title  to  go  where  they 
please  in  the  evening? — or,  that  an  hour  or  two 
spent  in  formal  devotion  on  one  part  of  the  day, 
will  justify  them  in   spending  the  rest  of  it  in 
amusement   and   pleasure?     Do  they  think  that 
there  is  any  virtue  belonging  to  the  services  of  the 
forenoon,  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  those  of  the 
afternoon? — or  is  it  their  belief,  that  the  performance 
of  one  part  of  a  duty,  will  be  held  by  God  as  an 
equivalent  for  the  whole?     Is  it  from  a  full  and 
serious  examination  of  the  commandment  of  God, 
or  from  a  regard  to  the  opinion  of  men,  that  they 
have  adopted  the  practice  of  which  we  complain? 
We  have  heard  it  lamented,  by  persons  who  were 
themselves  a  melancholy  example  of  the  influence 
of  the  passion  whose  effects  they  deprecated — that 
the  fear  of  ridicule  prevented  many  from  a  punc- 


221 

tual  attendance  on  divine  ordinances,  and  a  regular 
performance  of  religious  duties !  And  while  we 
have  expressed  our  surprise  at  the  contrariety  of 
sentiment  and  practice  which  was  thus  evinced,  we 
could  discover  no  other  cause  than  this,  that  the 
fashion  of  the  world  has  associated  something  weak 
and  feminine  with  the  character  of  the  man  who 
faithfully  and  devoutly  observes  the  public  duties 
of  the  Sabbath.  What  a  fearful  perversion  of 
human  reason  is  this,  and  how  ominous  of  the 
future  perdition  of  those  who  indulge  it !  "  What 
is  a  man  advantaged,"  said  our  Saviour,  "  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  himself,  or  be  a  cast- 
away !  Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  be  ashamed  of 
me,  and  of  my  words,  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful 
generation;  of  him  also  shall  the  Son  of  man  be 
ashamed,  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father,  with  the  holy  angels."  * 

But,  the  truth  is,  that  the  practice  of  which  we 
complain,  is  not  of  native  growth.  It  assorts  not 
at  all  with  the  notions  which  our  bibles  and  fore- 
fathers taught  us,  of  the  obligations  of  the  duty 
which  lies  upon  all  of  us,  to  sanctify  our  hearts 
upon  the  Sabbath,  that  we  may  keep  it  holy.  It 
has  been  imported  from  abroad,  and  if  we  be  not 
very  watchful   of  its  spread  amongst  us,   it  will 


•  Matth.  viii.  38. 
T    3 


222 

speedily  bring  with  it,  the  long  train  of  sinful  and 
profane  amusements,  in  which  our  more  gay  and 
more  profligate  neighbours  indulge.  By  them,  it 
seems  to  have  been  at  first  thought  quite  sufficient 
to  attend  the  house  of  God  on  the  morning  of  the 
Sabbath,  to  join  in  the  formal  confession  of  sin, 
and  the  lifeless  supplication  of  a  continuance  of 
the  divine  blessing;  and  the  rest  of  the  day,  and 
the  rest  of  the  week,  they  conceived  themselves 
warranted  to  spend,  according  to  the  counsels  and 
the  pleasures  of  their  own  imagination.  Remiss- 
ness in  any  one  department  of  duty,  however, 
frequently  leads  to  a  general  relaxation  of  moral 
feeling  and  principle;  and,  accordingly,  it  has 
become  a  very  prevalent  opinion  among  some 
professors  of  the  Christian  faith,  that,  as  they  are 
included  in  the  prayers  which  are  read  by  the 
officiating  clergyman,  in  behalf  of  all  men,  their 
attendance,  during  the  hours  of  divine  service,  is 
altogether  an  unnecessary  and  gratuitous  act. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  describe  what  the  conse- 
quences of  this  opinion,  and  of  this  doctrine,  have 
been,  after  the  detail  which  I  have  already  given 
in  the  early  part  of  this  Section.  The  same 
doctrine,  and  the  same  consequences,  we  fear,  are 
rapidly  extending  among  ourselves;  and  if  our 
feeble  exertions  shall  have  no  effect  in  counteract- 
ing their  spread,  we  shall,  at  least,  have  the  satis- 


faction  of  having  pointed  out  their  cure.  Let 
every  one  apply  the  subject  to  himself,  and  let  him 
bring  to  its  examination,  his  own  experience  and 
observation.  Measure  the  performance  of  duty 
by  the  standard  of  the  divine  law,  and  let  the 
wisdom  and  the  utility  of  every  ordinance  of  reli- 
gion be  determined  by  its  own  requirements  and 
effects.  Select  from  among  your  acquaintance  and 
your  neighbours,  those  by  whom  the  praises  of 
Jehovah  are  never  sung,  and  by  whom  his  Sab- 
baths are  never  sanctified — and  tell  us,  what  are 
their  characters  and  pursuits,  and  what  the  hopes 
and  prospects  with  which  they  are  cheered?  Look 
around  the  world,  and  tell  us,  where  do  the  virtues 
which  most  adorn  human  life,  most  eminently 
flourish  ;  and  where  is  the  happiness  that  is  most 
lasting,  most  fully  enjoyed?  Is  it  not  by  those 
whose  hearts  are  most  uniformly  filled  with  the 
fear  of  the  Lord,  and  whose  lives  are  most  uni- 
formly spent  in  the  observance  of  his  ordinances, 
and  the  study  and  obedience  of  his  laws?  Where 
does  iniquity  spread  its  baneful  influence  most 
widely  over  the  theatre  of  human  action — and 
where  does  profligacy  contaminate  most  deeply 
the  sources  of  human  virtue,  and  break  down  the 
landmarks  of  duty,  and  throw  open  the  flood-gates 
of  pollution?  Is  it  not  where  the  restraints  of 
religion  are  avowedly  despised — where  its  institu- 


2^4 

tions  are  openly  profaned,  and  the  name  and  the 
attributes  of  its  author,  are  never  worshipped  or 
revered?  Whom  would  you  select  as  your  most 
faithful  friends,  or  whom  would  you  trust  as  your 
most  confidential  servants?  Those  who  neither 
obeyed  the  appointments  of  God,  nor  trembled  at 
the  denouncements  of  his  wrath?  or  those  who 
strove  to  walk  blameless  in  his  statutes,  and  whose 
fidelity  in  your  service,  and  whose  attachment  to 
your  interest,  were  the  fruits  of  their  veneration 
of  the  laws,  and  of  their  attendance  upon  the 
ordinances  of  that  Almighty  Being,  who,  in  six 
days,  made  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  all 
the  host  of  them:  and  rested  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
blessed  and  hallowed  it?  Which  is  the  more 
pleasing  spectacle  to  behold, — a  community  of  men 
whose  hearts  are  subdued  under  a  sense  of  their 
dependence  upon  the  power  and  goodness  of  God, 
and  expanded  under  the  influence  of  a  devotional 
regard  to  his  institutions  and  his  laws,  and  who 
assemble  together,  with  a  meek  and  grave  deport- 
ment, to  give  utterance  to  the  gratitude  with  which 
their  affections  glow,  and  to  hear  and  obey  the  admo- 
nitions of  those  who  tell  them,  that  it  is  not  a  vain 
thing  to  wait  upon  the  Lord,  neither  is  it  unprofit- 
able to  keep  his  ordinances, — or  that  of  a  commu- 
nity where  the  fear  of  God  is  never  acknowledged, 
and  his  worship  is  never  witnessed;  where  their 


225 

Sabbaths  are  the  Sabbaths  of  oxen,  and  their 
solemn  feasts  the  holidays  of  Satan,  spent  in  the 
pleasures  of  brutes,  and  devoted  to  the  revelry  of 
sin?  Whether  is  it  more  pleasing  to  behold  men 
devoting  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  to  the 
blissful  employment  of  thanksgiving  and  praise,  or 
to  the  sordid  calculations  of  avarice,  and  the 
sluggish  indulgence  in  debasing  apathy — to  see 
them  preparing  their  hearts  for  solemnizing  the 
rites  of  heaven,  and  taking  sweet  counsel  together, 
as  they  walk  to  the  house  of  God  in  company — or 
to  see  them  snuffing  at  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  and  posting  away  from  the  sight  and  the 
service  of  the  sanctuary,  and  strengthening  one 
another  in  the  strong  holds  of  impiety,  and 
encouraging  one  another  in  the  propagation  of 
profligacy? — "  Away  from  us,  O  ye  wicked,  for  we 
will  keep  the  commandments  of  our  God !  This 
is  the  statute  which  we  will  observe;  and  these  are 
the  words  of  the  law  which  we  will  obey:  *  What- 
soever others  do,  as  for  us  and  our  house,  we  will 
serve  the  Lord.*  To  his  voice  will  we  listen,  and 
his  covenant  will  we  keep.  For,  thus  saith  the 
Lord  to  them  who  choose  the  things  that  please 
him,  and  who  take  hold  on  his  covenant  to  do  it. 
Blessed  is  the  man  that  doeth  this,  and  the  son  of 
man  that  layeth  hold  on  it — that  keepeth  the 
Sabbath  from  polluting  it — and  that  restraineth 


^26 

himself  from  doing  any  evil  upon  it.  Them  will 
I  bring  to  my  holy  mountain,  and  there  will  I 
make  them  joyful  in  my  house  of  prayer.  Their 
offerings  and  their  sacrifices  shall  be  accepted  upon 
mine  altar,  and  their  souls  shall  be  satisfied  with 
the  goodness  of  my  house,  even  of  my  holy 
temple." 


227 


SECTION  Xll. 

Advantages  which  the  Sanctification  of  the  Sabbath 
is  calculated  to  produce. 

From  the  facts  and  arguments  stated  and 
detailed  in  the  preceding  Sections  of  this  Disserta- 
tion, it  has  been  proved,  that  the  appointment  of 
the  Sabbath,  as  a  day  of  cessation  from  ordinary 
labour,  and  of  public  religious  duty,  is  one  of  the 
most  ancient  and  venerable  institutions  in  society. 
It  now  remains  for  us  to  show,  a  little  more  fully 
than  we  have  hitherto  done,  that  it  is  one  of  the 
wisest  and  most  useful. 

We  believe  that  none,  but  such  as  have  become 
dead  to  all  sentiments  of  virtue  and  piety,  by  the 
debasing  influence  of  infidel  principles,  or  profligate 
habits,  will  deny,  that  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath — that  the  dedication  of  one  day  in  seven, 
to  a  respite  from  secular  labour,  and  to  the  attain- 
ment of  religious  instruction — the  enlargement  of 
moral  enjoyment,  and  the  contemplation  of  the 
great  and  momentous  concerns  that  belong  to  our 
everlasting  peace,  is  calculated,  in  the  very  highest 


228 

degree,    to   promote   the   spiritual  and  temporal 
happiness   of  all  ranks  and   professions  of  men. 
Those  who  refuse  to  admit  the  truth  of  such  a 
statement,  must  have  discarded  from  their  minds, 
all  belief  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion, 
and  have  thrown   away   all  regard    to    its    most 
exalted  and  amiable  duties,   and  have  reconciled 
themselves  to  the  cold  and  cheerless  doctrine,  that 
its  hopes  and  its  fears,  its  rewards  and  its  punish- 
ments, are  the  invention  of  knaves,  or  the  delusion 
of  fools— and  that  mankind  are  unalterably  destined 
to  run  the  round  of  a  few  years  of  vanity  and  dis- 
appointment on  this  earth,  with  no  higher  hopes, 
and  less  real  happiness,  than  are  possessed  by  the 
mute  irrational  creation.     But  the  number  of  such 
men  must  be  limited,  and  it  is  only  in  the  society 
of  the  depraved  and  the  worthless,  that  they  dare 
to   avow   their   profane   and   licentious   opinions. 
Wherever  the  existence  of  God  is  believed,  the 
immortality  of  the  human  soul  is  admitted.     The 
immortality  of  the  human  soul,  is  necessarily  con- 
nected with  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state;  and 
this,  joined  to  man's  accountability  for  the  good  or 
evil  of  his  actions,    implies    the    distribution    of 
different  allotments   hereafter,    according   to   the 
character  by  which  he  has  been  distinguished  here. 
Now,    here  only,   on   the   simple   view  of  man's 
immortal  and  accountable  character,  the  institu- 


229 

tion  of  the  Sabbath,  appears  a  most  wise  and 
beneficial  measure.  The  Sabbath,  emphatically,  as 
well  as  literally,  means  a  day  of  rest  to  the  wearied 
and  hard-toiled  children  of  men ;  and  it  remains 
for  ever  an  emblem  or  type  of  that  holy  and  unin- 
terrupted rest,  which  awaits  the  people  of  God, 
in  another  and  a  better  world.  It  is  a  day  sacred 
to  the  commemoration  of  the  creating  and  redeem- 
ing power  and  goodness  of  the  Most  High;  and 
the  exercises  and  services  in  which  it  is  now  spent 
by  the  faithful,  are  an  earnest  and  foretaste  of  the 
pure  and  spiritual  services,  with  which  the  praises 
of  God,  and  of  the  Lamb,  will  be  celebrated  through- 
out the  ages  of  eternity. 

Is  it  not,  then,  of  the  highest  importance,  that 
an  institution,  so  exalted  in  its  origin,  so  pure  and 
hallowed  in  its  end,  should  be  reverentially  and 
sacredly  observed  by  man?  Since  it  is  its  primary 
object,  to  preserve  in  his  mind,  the  remembrance 
of  the  wisdom  and  benignity  of  God — to  instruct 
him  in  the  knowledge  of  the  things  that  belong  to 
his  everlasting  peace — and  to  animate  and  cheer 
him  with  the  hope  of  glory,  honour,  and  a  blessed 
immortality,  is  it  not  a  duty  of  the  very  highest 
obligation,  that  he  call  it,  "  a  delight — the  holy 
of  the  Lord,  honourable — and  turn  away  his  feet 
upon  it,  from  doing  his  own  ways,  finding  his 
own  pleasures,  and  speaking  his  own  words?" 
U 


230 

Yes,  if  the  bulk  of  mankind  have  not  been  pre- 
destinated to  occupy  the  condition  of  mere  beasts 
of  burden — if  we  do  not  regard  them  as  the  heirs 
of  perpetual  slavery  and  ignorance — doomed  to 
toil  in  hopeless  pain  and  poverty,  that  they  may 
yield  to  the  few,  who  inherit  the  riches  and  the 
rule  of  this  earth,  the  means  of  increased  emolu- 
ment and  luxury,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
on  the  ground  of  its  advantage  to  man,  in  this 
world  alone,  is  a  most  wise  and  reasonable  institu- 
tion. We  are  feeble  and  declining  mortals,  and, 
both  in  a  moral  and  political  point  of  view,  we 
require  occasional  interruptions  and  varieties  of 
our  domestic  and  social  employments.  The  con- 
stitution of  man  is  unable  to  endure  the  hardship 
of  long-continued  exertion ;  and  when  it  is  con- 
sidered what  a  large  proportion  of  our  race  must 
always  remain  "  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers 
of  water,"  the  appointment  of  the  Sabbath,  in 
reference  merely  to  the  relief  which  it  affords  to 
our  toilsome  condition,  must  excite  in  our  minds 
sentiments  of  gratitude  and  praise. 

But,  connected  with  this  beneficial  effect  of  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  day  of  rest,  by 
which  servants  are  protected  from  the  oppression 
of  rigorous  and  unfeeling  task-masters,  there  is 
another,  which,  although  apparently  only  of  an 
humble  character,   has  a  very  general  influence  on 


231 

the  comfort  of  the  lower  classes  of  societ}-.     We 
mean  the  attention  to  decency  of  external  appear- 
ance, and  cleanliness  of  dress,  which  is  inseparable 
from    the   devout   observance   of  that  day ;    and 
which,  throughout  all  Christian  countries,  is  more 
successfully  recommended  and  enforced,    by  the 
weekly  recurrence  of  its  public  duties,  than  by  any 
other  ordinance  or  arrangement  whatever.     Now, 
it  is  familiar  to  all  who  have  attentively  studied 
the  human  character,  that  its  formation  depends 
very  often  on  extremely  minute  causes,  and  that 
circumstances,  which  at  first  sight  seem  too  trivial 
to  be  taken  into  account,  are  afterwards  found  to 
have  a  mighty  effect  in  deciding  its  excellence  or 
deformity.     We  believe,  that  there  is  a  very  close 
association  between  the  dress  and  manners  of  an 
individual;   and,  although   it  be  as  impossible  to 
teach  a  rude  man  good  breeding,  by  putting  a  good 
garment  around  him,  as  it  would  be  to  make  an 
ignorant  man  learned,  by  merely  putting  a  book  of 
science  in  his  hand;  yet  we  think  it  undeniable, 
that   a   certain    elevation    of  thought,    and    even 
dignity   of  demeanour,   are  inspired   among   the 
labouring  classes,  by  their  occasional  appearance 
in  a  garb  of  superior  fineness  and  elegance.     The 
change  thus  produced,  is  equivalent  to  a  distinction 
conferred  on  them.     They  feel   raised  above  the 
level   of  their   ordinary   employments,   and  they 
U   2 


232 

naturally  endeavour  to  imbibe  a  portion  of  the 
sentiments  and  manners  of  the  higher  orders  in 
society,  to  which,  their  outward  habiliments  indi- 
cate an  approximation.*  This  is  an  eiFect  which 
may  be  observed,  without  any  reference  to  parti- 
cialar  circumstances;  but  if  we  connect  with  an 
improvement  in  the  external  appearance  and  dress 
of  a  man  in  ordinary  life,  an  increased  attention 
to  the  external  decencies  of  society,  and  a  devoat 
observance  of  the  pu-blic  solemnities  of  religion,  it 
UMist  necessarily  follow,  tihat  he  will  acquire  a 
softness  of  disposition,  and  a  suavity  of  manners, 
to  which  he  was  formerly  a  stranger.  Moreover, 
every  thing  relating  to  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath, 
is  calculated  to  inspire  feelings  of  humility  aod 
meekness,  kindness  and  condescension.  The  place 
where  we  meet  for  their  performance,  bears,  in  our 
estimation,  a  sacred  character.  We  are  imme- 
diately in  the  presence  of  God,  the  searcher  of  the 
hearts,  and  the  trier  of  the  spirits  of  the  children 
of  men.     There  is  an  outward  decorum,  therefore, 


*  **  II  me  semble  qu'il  se  glisse  dans  le  coeur  des  gens  du 
peuple,  quelques  pensees  propres  a  relever  un  peu  leur  sentimens 
tri)attus;  lorsqu' un  jour  par  semaine,  ils  se  revetent  d'un  habit 
qui  les  rapproche  exterieurement  des  autres  citoyens: — lorsque> 
ce  jour,  ils  sont  maitres  absolus  de  leur  temps,  et  peuvent  se  dire 
ainsi  quelquefois:   Et  moi  aussi  je  suis  Lrbre.'* 

M.  Necker  De  I'importance  des  opinions  religieuses. 


233 

indispensably  requisite  in  all  our  movements  and 
gestures.  We  are  engaged  in  the  worship  and 
service  of  the  Most  High;  and  the  act  of  confessing 
our  sins,  and  imploring  forgiveness,  and  seeking, 
through  the  intercession  of  the  Redeemer,  recon- 
ciliation and  favour,  must  strongly  awaken  within 
us,  a  sense  of  our  guilt,  our  frailty,  and  insuffi- 
ciency; and  thus,  effectually  banish  from  our  minds 
every  feeling  of  pride,  hardheartedness,  and  inso- 
lence. The  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit, 
is,  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  great  price;  and  no 
man  can  make  an  acceptable  approach  to  his  altar, 
or  engage  aright  in  his  service,  who  has  not  expe- 
rienced the  influence  of  holy  desires  extinguishing 
ihe  power  of  impure  passions,  and  felt  a  spirituality 
of  temper,  and  a  sweetness  and  gentleness  of  dis- 
position, uniting  him  in  sympathy  with  the  wants 
and  the  wishes  of  all  around  him. 

Haughtiness  and  self-conceit,  in  many  cases? 
characterize  the  possessors  of  learning  and  wealth, 
and  these  dispositions  are  generally  manifested  in 
a  supercilious  contempt  for  all  who  are  less  favour- 
ably gifted.  The  qualities  on  which  haughtiness 
of  demeanour  is  founded,  are,  for  the  most  part, 
entirely  fictitious;  and,  as  society  is  now  consti- 
tuted, one  very  considerable  cause  of  suffering  to 
the  lowly  and  undistinguished,  arises  from  the 
insolence  which  the  pride  of  rank,  or  of  riches, 
u  3 


234 

compels  tbem  to  endure.  But  there  is  one  place, 
and  only  one,  where  the  distinctions  of  birth  and 
of  rank — the  insolence  of  office — the  pride  of 
wealth — and  the  self-sufficiency  of  science,  are 
annihilated;  and  all  classes  and  denominations  of 
men,  appear,  "  without  respect  of  persons,  as 
nothing  and  vanity."  There  is  one  place,  where 
the  dazzling  illusions  of  the  world  have  lost  their 
power  to  deceive,  and  the  measure  of  truth  and 
rectitude  is  impartially  applied  to  the  conscience 
and  the'  conduct  of  all.  In  the  house  of  God, 
and  in  the  worship  of  God,  all  men  appear,  even 
in  their  own  estimation,  equally  "  wretched  and 
poor,  blind  and  naked," — distinguished  in  no  way 
from  one  another,  except  by  the  sincerity  of  their 
contrition — the  strength  of  their  faith — and  the 
fervour  of  their  desires  to  purify  themselves  from 
all  iniquity  of  heart  and  of  life,  even  as  the 
author  of  their  faith  is  pure.  It  is  here,  in  the 
sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  performance 
of  its  solemn  public  duties,  that  the  rich  and  the 
poor  truly  meet  together,  and  the  Lord  appears 
as  the  Maker  and  the  Father  of  them  all.  Here 
"  the  mighty  are  put  down  from  their  seats,  and 
they  of  low  degree  are  exalted."  All  the  distinc- 
tions of  honour,  and  power,  and  wealth,  are 
abolished;  and  the  glorious  distinction  of  having 
"  full  assurance  of  the  faith,  and  hearts  sprinkled 


235 

from  an  evil  conscience,  and  purged  from  dead 
works,  to  serve  the  living  God,"  is  alone  recog- 
nized.    The  poor  man  is  released  from   the  de- 
pressing influence  of  an  untoward  fortune;  and  he 
gains  a  holy  confidence,  and  an  unyielding  forti- 
tude against  the  evils  of  his  lot,  from  the  assurance 
of  the  loving-kindness  and   favour  of  the   Most 
High.     The  rich  man  gives  his  earthly  treasure 
to  the  wind,  and,  prostrating  himself  at  the  foot- 
stool of  the  divine  throne,  he  is  only  raised  from 
the   depths    of  his    self-abasement,    and  released 
from  his  fears  of  utter  rejection,  by  the  cheering 
declaration,  that  although  not  many  wise  men,  after 
the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble,  are 
called,  "  of  a  truth,  God  is  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons; but  in  every  nation,  he  that  feareth  him,  and 
worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  him."    The 
worship  of  God,  then,  according  to  the  ceremonial 
and  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  is  the  grandest  moral 
spectacle  the  world  ever  witnessed.     It  is  here, 
alone,  that  all  men  are  equalized  in  the  presence 
of  the  Creator,  and  combined  by  their  common 
imperfections  and  wants,  in   mutual  benevolence 
and  esteem.     It  is  here,  alone,  the  rich  and  poor 
meet  together,  as  children  of  the  same  Father,  and 
heirs  of  the  same  inheritance — as  suppliants  of  the 
same  mercy,    and  partakers   of  the  same  hopes. 
The  same  desires  and  aspirations  are  here  poured 


236 

forth  from  a  thousand  hearts,  and  consolations 
and  comforts,  which  are  neither  few  nor  small, 
are  showered  down  on  all,  according  as  their 
varied  circumstances  require.  It  is  only  in  the 
house  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  the  one  living 
and  true  God,  that  mankind  are  publicly  taught, 
that  the  same  purposes  are  destined  to  be  fulfilled, 
by  all  the  vicissitudes  of  condition  and  enjoyment 
which  they  experience  here,  and  that  the  disap- 
pointments and  afflictions  which  fall  to  their  lot 
now,  will,  hereafter,  issue  in  the  full  and  ever- 
lasting happiness  of  all  who  are  suitably  exercised 
under  them.  "  O  Israel,  trust  thou,  therefore,  in 
the  Lord,  for  the  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  shield. 
Keep  ye  judgment,  and  do  justice,  for  his  salvation 
is  near  to  come,  and  his  righteousness  to  be 
revealed.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  doeth  this,  and 
the  son  of  man  that  layeth  hold  on  it — that 
keepeth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it — and 
keepeth  his  hand  from  doing  any  evil," 

But  this  leads  me  to  state,  that,  in  a  detail  of 
the  benefits  resulting  from  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  a  day  of  holy  rest  and  meditation,  the 
facilities  it  affords  for  instructing  men  in  the 
knowledge  of  religious  and  moral  duty,  must  be 
assigned  a  high  and  important  station.  The 
direct  tendency  of  natural  and  moral  science  to 
soften  and  civilize  mankind,  and  to  qualify  them 


237 

for  discharging,  most  successfully  and  beneficially, 
all  the  duties  of  social  and  domestic  life,  has  been 
questioned,  we  believe,  by  none  who  have  not 
been  decidedly  hostile  to  the  moral  and  political 
interests  of  our  race.  Wherever  learning  is 
patronised  and  encouraged,  it  unfolds,  in  a  pre- 
eminent degree,  the  highest  faculties  of  the  human 
mind,  and  gives  exercise  and  energy  to  feelings 
and  affections  which  would  otherwise  have  lain 
for  ever  dormant.  It  multiplies  the  means  of 
human  subsistence  and  enjoyment;  and  unlocks 
the  richest  intellectual  treasures  that  dignify  and 
adorn  our  nature.  It  ennobles  the  mind  of  man, 
more  than  all  the  arbitrary  honours  and  distinc- 
tions which  princes  or  courts  can  confer;  and 
places,  at  all  times,  within  the  reach  of  those  who 
possess  it,  a  rich  banquet  of  moral  felicity,  which 
the  world  can  neither  give,  nor  take  away. 

Do  we  admit,  then,  that  all  men  have  a  right 
to  personal  enjoyment — and,  (except  in  a  country 
where  the  most  debasing  despotism  has  extin- 
guished all  sentiments  of  virtue,)  this,  we  should 
think,  will  not  be  denied — if  we  admit,  that  all 
men  have  certain  duties  to  perform,  as  rational  and 
accountable  beings — as  beings  who  are  not  sent 
into  the  world  to  run  the  round  of  a  few  years  of 
care  and  penury,  and  afterwards  to  perish  in 
ignorance  and  misery,  but  who  are  placed  here  in 


238 

a  state  of  trial  and  preparation  for  another,  and 
an  endless  world,  and  who,  according  to  their 
present  character  and  conduct,  shall  hereafter  be 
declared  the  heirs  of  glory  and  honour,  or  of 
tribulation  and  wrath, — then  it  must  be  of  the 
highest  importance  for  their  moral  improvement 
and  happiness,  that  there  should  be  regular  inter- 
vals of  rest,  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  moral 
and  religious  truth.  Now,  are  not  these  intervals 
most  wisely  provided  by  the  weekly  recurrence  of 
the  Sabbath;  and  does  it  not  furnish  more  effica- 
ciously than  was  ever  done  by  any  other  moral  or 
religious  institution,  the  means  of  growing  in  the 
knowledge  of  holiness  and  righteousness,  and  of 
all  the  duties  that  belong  to  the  life  that  now  is, 
and  of  that  which  is  to  come?  And  what  knowledge 
can  be  more  practical,  more  useful,  more  fitted 
to  enlarge  and  exalt  the  mind,  than  that  which 
relates  to  the  present  and  future  condition  of  man? 
Or  where  can  it  be  acquired  so  expeditiously  or 
so  perfectly,  as  in  the  house  where  the  oracles  of 
divine  truth  are  expounded,  and  the  duties  of 
devotion  and  charity,  of  meekness,  patience,  and 
perseverance,  are  inculcated,  with  the  powerful 
aid  of  sympathy  to  enforce  them,  and  all  the 
charm  of  a  pious  example  to  win  us  to  their  love 
and  practice? 

The  heathen  world  may  be  searched  in  vain  for 


239 

an  institution  that  can  vie  in  utility  with  that  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  in  no  Christian  country  can  we 
point  to  any  other  periodical  festival,  or  any  other 
human  appointment  that  can  be  compared  to  it, 
as  the  means  of  communicating  the  greatest  portion 
of  important  instruction  to  the  greatest  mass  of 
mankind.  It  is  in  the  sanctuary  of  God's  house 
alone,  that  we  behold  the  pleasing  spectacle  of  a 
mingled  multitude,  composed  of  the  high  and 
the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  assembled  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  having  their  hearts  warmed 
by  the  same  gratitude — animated  by  the  same 
hopes — and  united  in  the  same  bonds  of  benevo- 
lence and  peace.  It  is  there  only  that  they  appear 
possessed  of  the  same  substantial  and  glorious 
privileges,  in  virtue  of  which,  they  can  draw 
near  to  the  throne  of  grace  with  confidence,  as 
children  to  a  flither  who  is  able  and  willing  to  help 
them  in  every  time  of  need.  Religious  knowledge 
is,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  the  knowledge 
of  our  duty;  and  this,  it  is  the  exclusive  end  of 
the  Sabbath  to  teach  and  recommend.  Plainness 
and  simplicity,  in  general,  characterize  the  instruc- 
tions which  are  delivered  from  the  word  of  God 
in  the  house  set  apart  for  his  worship;  and  there 
have  all  ranks  of  men  an  opportunity,  which  they 
can  find  no  where  else,  of  hearing  the  doctrines  of 
salvation,    and   the   sanctions    and    obligations  of 


£40 

moral  duty,    explained    and    enjoined   with    un- 
rivalled solemnity  and  force. 

If  there  is  not  a  melancholy  preponderance  of 
worldly  and  sinful  thoughts  in  the  mind,  the  im- 
pressions which  are  received  in  the  sanctuary,  must 
be  carried  into  the  world,  and  there  give  a  charac- 
ter to  all  our  transactions,  in  every  department  of 
life.  With  the  lively  influence  of  the  important 
truths  which  he  heard  expounded  on  the  Sabbath, 
pervading  his  mind  during  the  week,  with  the 
consideration  of  his  future  accountability  at  the 
tribunal  of  God,  always  before  his  eyes,  a  man 
must  ever  feel  restrained  in  the  pursuit  of  secular 
profit  or  pleasure;  for  we  can  conceive  no  doctrine 
more  powerful  in  training  him  to  circumspection 
and  purity  of  conduct,  than  the  assurance,  that  a 
Being  of  perfect  holiness — with  whom  evil  cannot 
dwell,  neither  can  the  workers  of  iniquity  stand- 
in  his  sight — is  the  constant  witness  of  all  his 
thoughts,  words,  and  deeds.  The  public  services 
of  the  Sabbath,  therefore,  furnish  the  mass  of 
mankind  with  information  respecting  their  duty, 
and  motives  to  the  performance  of  it,  more  plain 
and  intelligible,  more  copious  and  forcible,  than 
they  could  derive  from  the  observance  of  any 
other  ordinance,  or  the  celebration  of  any  other 
act  of  religious  worship.  They  aid  private  devo- 
tion,   by   inspiring   additional   degrees   of  moral 


241 

fervour,  and  render  all  our  duties  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving,  of  confession  and  supplication,  more 
impressive  and  profitable,  than  they  can  be  when 
performed  in  solitude.  They  preserve  and  promote, 
moreover,  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society, 
by  removing,  from  the  mind  of  the  worshippers,  all 
rancorous  and  turbulent  passions;  and  exhibit,  in 
the  mingled  throng  who  have  met  to  serve  the 
Lord,  with  one  heart,  and  in  one  way,  the  most 
perfect  example  of  social  union  and  happiness, 
which  the  annals  of  the  world  can  display.  They 
diffuse,  among  all  who  assemble  to  worship  under 
the  same  roof,,  and  in  the  same  spirit,  gentleness 
and  meekness,  mutual  forbearance  and  friendship. 
They  inspire  the  lowly  and  self-abased  with  senti- 
ments of  manly  boldness  and  independence,  and 
render  them  careful,  even  from  a  regard  to  their 
own  respectability  and  comfort,  to  observe  an  out- 
ward propriety  and  decorum  in  all  their  demean- 
our in  the  world.  They  bring  together,  and  strip 
of  their  short-lived  distinctions,  the  prince  and 
the  peasant,  the  magistrate  and  the  subject,  the 
master  and  the  servant,  and  unite  them  all  in  a 
common  sympathy,  by  uniting  them  in  a  common 
end. 

But,  to  sum  up  this  detail  of  moral  benefits,  we 
maintain,  that  there  is  no  appointment  of  Provi- 
dence, and  no  ordinance  of  religion,  which  can  be 
X 


242 

compared  to   the  Sabbath,  as  the  instrument  of 
preserving  in  the  world,  the  knowledge  and  worship 
of  the  one  living  and  true  God.     Take  mankind 
in  general,   and  examine   their   dispositions   and 
habits.     Trace  them  in  their  progress  through  life, 
and  carefully  compare  the  relative  influence  which 
temporal  and  spiritual  objects,  or,  what  is  the  same 
thing,  which  the  concerns  of  time  and  of  eternity 
maintain  over  their  minds.     Do  not   the  things 
which  are   seen   and    temporal,    in   many  cases, 
swallow  up  all  regard  for  the  things  that  are  not 
seen  and  eternal?    In  every  country,  do  not  we 
find  the  largest  proportion  of  mankind  so  engrossed 
with  the  care  of  what  they  shall  eat,  and  what 
they  shall  drink,  and  wherewithal  they  shall  be 
clothed,  that  they  have  no  time  and  no  reflection 
to  bestow  on  the  momentous  interests  of  a  future 
and  eternal  world?     Does  not  the  love  of  present 
ease,  or  the  desire  of  future  gain,  or  the  pursuit 
of  vain   and  visionary  honours,    obliterate   from 
the  hearts  of  a  large  portion  of  our  race,  all  con- 
cern about  the  obligations  of  the  divine  law,  and, 
consequently,  all  concern  about  the  awful  realities 
of  eternity?     If  men  were  left  unacquainted  with 
the  public  institutions  and  ordinances  of  religion, 
would   they   not   soon   become  strangers   to   the 
sanctions  and  obligations  of  its  private  duties? 
Certainly  they  would— for,  if  there  was  no  regular 


243 

period  of  time  devoted  by  them  to  the  acquirement 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  doctrines  and  duties  of 
salvation,  they  would  speedily  become  ignorant  of 
their  own  immortal  nature — lose  all  reverence  for 
the  attributes  and  the  laws  of  God,  and  sink  into 
a  melancholy  condition  of  moral  insensibility  and 
sin.  The  devout  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  then, 
we  contend,  is  the  main  pillar  on  which  vital 
godliness  and  true  holiness  rest.  Without  the 
public  acknowledgment  of  the  existence  and  the 
providence  of  God,  there  can  be  no  excitement 
to  duty  higher  than  what  the  transient  considera* 
tions  of  time  can  create.  Without  the  observance 
of  the  public  institutions  of  religion,  we  cannot 
well  conceive  the  existence  of  any  concern  about 
the  discharge  of  its  private  virtues.  If  the  divine 
authority  of  the  commandment  to  sanctify  the 
Sabbath,  is  denied,  and  the  public  ordinances  of 
the  Gospel  are  disregarded,  it  is  not  at  all  probable 
that  any  reverence  for  the  name  and  the  attributes 
of  God,  will  remain;  or  that  the  desire  of  obtaining 
his  favour,  and  the  fear  of  incurring  his  dis- 
pleasure, will  so  influence  the  minds  of  men,  as  to 
preserve  them  in  the  constant  love  and  practice  of 
all  that  he  has  revealed,  as  "honest,  just,  pure, 
lovely,  and  of  good  report." 

No. — It  is  by  the  regular  observance  of  the 
X  2 


^44 

Sabbath,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  character  and 
the  laws  of  God,  is  most  extensively  communicated 
to  the  majority  of  men.  It  is  by  this,  that  they 
are  most  perfectly  instructed  in  the  duties  which 
belong  to  the  stations  they  occupy  in  this  life,  and 
most  fervently  animated  with  the  desire  of  attaining 
the  realization  of  all  the  glorious  hopes  and  pro- 
mises which  belong  to  that  which  is  to  come.  We 
may  lay  it  down,  therefore,  as  a  general  rule,  that 
where  the  public  ordinances  of  religion  are  not 
respected,  its  private  duties  will  be  very  little 
known  or  practised.  When  men  forsake  the 
assembling  of  themselves  together,  to  worship  God, 
they  forsake  the  way  of  holiness  and  happiness; 
and  meanly  proffer,  at  the  shrine  of  personal  ease 
and  sensual  enjoyment,  the  highest  privileges  and  the 
brightest  endowments  of  an  immortal  and  account- 
able creature.  Experience  has  fully  demonstrated, 
that,  when  they  turn  away  their  feet  from  the 
sanctuary,  they  turn  away  from  righteousness;  and 
when  they  have  begun  to  walk  through  life,  without 
the  fear  and  reverence  of  God,  they  have  begun 
to  walk  after  the  "  lust  of  the  flesh — the  lust  of 
the  eye — and  the  pride  of  life."  With  the  largest 
portion  of  mankind,  the  neglect  of  the  Sabbath, 
in  particular,  is  a  proof  of  the  neglect  of  religion 
in  general; — wherever  the  influences  of  religion 


245 

are  not  felt,  the  fear  of  God  cannot  be  experienced; 
and  where  the  fear  of  God  is  not  experienced,  the 
corrupt  passions  of  the  heart  must  be  the  only 
guides  of  human  conduct,  and  under  their  oppres- 
sive and  demoralizing  rule,  men  must  become  the 
slaves  of  sin,  and,  according  to  their  various  pro- 
pensities and  habits,  sell  themselves  to  work  all 
manner  of  evil,  with  greediness.  How  dismal  is 
the  picture  which  such  a  state  of  society  exhibits! 
No  prayers  are  there  heard  ascending  to  heaven, 
and  no  voice  of  mercy  comes  from  it,  to  cheer  the 
humble  penitent  with  the  promise  of  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  the  assurance  of  salvation  through 
faith  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ  Jesus.  They 
desire  not  the  Lord,  or  the  knowledge  of  his  ways; 
and  in  righteous  judgment,  they  have  been  given 
up  to  the  delusion  of  a  reprobate  mind.  There 
is  no  petition  offered  up  for  the  grace  of  repentance, 
and  on  none  are  its  blessful  influences  shed.  The 
gates  of  righteousness  are  never  entered,  and  the 
door  of  life  is  never  open.  Darkness  has  covered 
the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people.  The 
broad  road,  that  leads  to  destruction,  is  crowded 
with  a  perverse  and  backsliding  generation,  who 
have  rejected  all  counsel,  and  despised  all  reproof; 
and  that  they  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own 
ways,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  devices,  the 
fearful  sentence  of  Ephraim  has  been  pronounced 
x3 


246 

against  them — "  They  are  joined  to  their  idols,  let 
them  alone."  * 

But  while  we  deplore  the  general  prevalence  of 
profaneness  and  profligacy — while  we  deprecate  the 
operation  of  those  causes  by  which  the  Sabbath  is 
polluted,  and  the  ordinances  of  religion  neglected 
and  despised,  it  is  gratifying  to  know,  (and  we  state 
the  fact  as  matter  of  joy  and  triumph  to  every 
good  man,)  that  there  are  none  to  be  met  with 
who  are  influenced,  we  will  not  say  by  the  princi- 
ples of  Christianity,  but  by  the  feelings  of  benevo- 
lence and  patriotism,  who  do  not  readily  acknow- 
ledge the  general  benefit  which  society  derives 
from  the  recurrence  of  this  sacred  day.  However 
much  men  may  differ  about  the  mode  of  sancti- 
fying it-^or  however  much  their  practice  may  be 
opposed  to  their  opinions — what  may  be  called  the 
political  advantages  of  its  observance,  are  uncontro- 
verted.    The  Sabbath  is  ordained  for  a  day  of  spiri- 


*  "  Wherever  the  Sabbatli  is  not,  there  is  no  worship,  no  religion. 
Man  forgets  God;  and  God  forsakes  man.  The  moral  world 
becomes  a  desert,  where  life  never  springs,  and  beauty  never 
smiles.  Putrid  with  sin,  and  shrunk  with  ignorance,  the  soul  of 
man  loses  its  rational  character,  and  prostrates  itself  before  devils, 
men,  beasts,  and  reptiles,  stocks  and  stones.  To  these,  man  offers 
his  prayers,  his  praises,  and  his  victims — to  these,  he  sacrifices  his 
children,  and  immolates  the  purity  and  honour  of  his  wife. — A 
brutal  worshipper  of  a  brutal  god,  he  hopes  for  protection  and 
blessing  from  the  assumption  of  every  folly,  and  the  perpetration 
of  every  crime." 


247 

tual  refreshment,  and  not  of  mortified  restraint — for 
a  day  of  public  worship,  and  public  deliverance  from 
servile  labourand  confinement; and  iftherebeanyto 
whom,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  it  doth  not 
shine  a  holiday,  the  cause,  we  are  certain,  will  be 
found  in  the  iniquity  and  oppression  of  their  mas- 
ters, or  in  their  own  debasing  attachment  to  sensual 
enjoyments,  or  the  greedy  and  grovelling  pursuit  of 
earthly  and  perishing  treasures.     There  are  none 
of  our  race  whose  bodily  frame  can  endure  unceas- 
ing toil,  or  whose  minds  will  not  sink  into  debility 
and    remissness,    by   long-continued,   close,   and 
thoughtful  employment.     There  are  none  to  whom 
the  alternations  of  rest  and  labour  are  not  grateful, 
and  whose  minds  do  not  feel  refreshed  and  invigo- 
rated by  the  holy  exercises  which  link  them  in 
communion  with  the  exercises  and  the  enjoyments 
of  another  and  an  eternal  worlii.     How  pleasing, 
then,  and  beneficial,  must  the  interruption  of  our 
worldly  pursuits  be,  while  we  devote  ourselves  on 
the  Sabbath,  to  the  peaceful,  but  sublime  contem- 
plation of  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love,  and  join 
in  the  solemn  assemblies  of  the  devout,  who  lift 
their  souls  and  their  songs  to  heaven,  in  adoration 
of  the  attributes  and  works  of  the  Almighty. 

How  delightful  is  it  to  contemplate  the  humble 
and  hard-wrought  peasant,  whose  daily  labours 
leave  no  room  for  more  than  the  grateful  vicissitude 


248 

of  his  nightly  slumbers,  rising,  with  the  Sabbath 
sun,  to  survey  the  smiling  beauties  with  which  a 
benignant  Providence  has  adorned  his  adjacent 
neighbourhood;  and  to  prepare  his  heart  for 
ascending,  in  sympathy  with  all  the  tribes  of 
animated  nature,  in  celebration  of  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  God !  How  delightful  is  it  to 
contemplate  the  emotions  of  his  gratitude  poured 
out,  for  even  the  scanty  portion  of  comfort  which 
has  been  assigned  to  him;  and  to  see  how  his  soul 
swells  with  praises,  when  he  enumerates  the  visita- 
tions which  have  hitherto  supported  and  beglad- 
dened  him  on  his  way  through  life! — Is  there  no 
moral  sentiment,  think  you,  animates  his  heart, 
when  he  reflects  on  the  wisdom  and  power  which 
planned  and  created  all  the  goodly  fabric  of  nature, 
whose  endless  and  magnificent  varieties  fill  his 
senses  and  imagination  with  wonder  and  delight  ? 
Is  there  no  moral  sentiment  animates  him,  when 
he  traces,  in  all  that  is  around  him,  and  above 
him,  the  impressions  of  omnipotence  and  majesty, 
which  he  cannot  comprehend:  and,  when  lifting 
his  views  to  the  heaven  of  heavens,  he  beholds, 
through  the  medium  of  his  Bible,  the  fulness  of 
the  Godhead  enthroned  in  light  that  is  inaccessible, 
and  full  of  glory?  Is  there  no  moral  sentiment 
mingles  with  his  speculations,  when  he  is  lost  in 
the   contemplation  of  the  stupendous  machinery 


249 

of  the  world,  which  he  sees  revolving  with 
uninterrupted  serenity  and  silence;  and,  when  over- 
come by  the  magnitude  and  splendour  of  the 
scene,  he  sinks  under  his  own  insignificance,  and 
piously  exclaims,  "  Lord,  what  is  man,  that  thou 
art  mindful  of  him,  or  the  son  of  man,  that  thou 
shouldst  visit  him?"  Do  no  virtuous  emotions 
mingle  with  his  experience,  when  he  calmly  sur- 
veys the  beauties  of  vegetable  nature,  which  are 
every  where  strewn  around  him ;  when  he  beholds 
how  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Godhead,  are 
imprinted  on  every  herb  and  every  flower  that 
administer  to  his  comfort  or  pleasure?  Do  no 
pious  aspirations  arise  in  his  breast,  when  he 
admires  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow;  and 
while  he  wonders  what  may  be  the  secret  laws,  by 
which  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  yet  he 
remembers,  that  Solomon,  in  all  his  glory,  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  them?* 

But,  more  than  all  this:  Who  would  deny,  that 
the  most  exquisite  moral  feeling  animates  his 
heart,  when,  summoning  his  healthful  and  smiling 


•  **  Blessed  surely  is  the  man  who  remembereth  the  Sabbath  to 
keep  it  holy,  who  calleth  it  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord  ; 
honourable,  and  honours  him,  not  doing  his  own  ways,  nor 
finding  his  own  pleasures,  nor  speaking  his  own  words — for  he 
shall  be  made  to  delight  himself  in  the  Lord,  and  be  fed  with  the 
heritage  of  Israel." 


250 

offspring  around  him,  he  trains  their  yet  unpol- 
luted tongues  to  join  with  him  in  the  praises  of 
that  Being,  by  whom  all  the  wonders  and  beauties 
he  surveys,  are  created  and  preserved?  Who 
would  deny,  that  the  purest  and  holiest  feelings 
kindle  in  their  souls,  when  he  reads  to  them,  out 
of  the  sacred  volume,  of  the  love  and  goodness, 
which  form  the  brightest  attributes  of  the  God- 
head:— when  he  tells  them,  how  man  was  created 
in  innocence,  and  how  he  fell  into  guilt  and 
misery: — how  he  had  sunk  himself  into  debase- 
ment and  ruin,  and  how  he  was  raised  to  the 
hope  of  immortality  and  glory?  Are  there  no 
sentiments  of  piety  and  devotion  excited  in  their 
hearts,  when  they  read  of  the  great  love,  wherewith 
God  loved  this  world,  in  that,  when  there  was  no 
eye  to  pity  us,  and  no  hand  to  help  us,  his  own 
eye  took  compassion,  and  his  right  hand  wrought 
our  redemption? 

Is  that  only  a  ceremonial  act,  which  instils  into 
the  minds  of  an  infant  generation,  a  pious  depen- 
dence upon  God, — a  devoted  resolution  of  walking 
in  all  his  ways — of  keeping  his  commandments — of 
cleaving  unto  him,  and  serving  him,  with  all  their 
heart,  and  with  all  their  soul?  It  is  a  periodical, 
but  not  a  ceremonial  act,  which  they  perform, 
when,  at  the  summon  of  the  Sabbath  bell,  they 
meet  in  the  assembly  of  the  saints,    where  the 


251 

Lord  is  greatly  feared;  and  unite  in  prayer  with 
them,   of  whom  he  is  constantly  held  in  reverence. 
It  is  a  periodical,  but  not  a  ceremonial  act,  which 
they  perform,  when,  in  obedience  to  the  Apostle's 
injunction,    "  not   to   forsake   the   assembling   of 
themselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  too  many 
is,"  they  meet  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  that 
they  may  be  exhorted  and  edified  in  the  faith,  and 
provoked   to   the   cultivation   of  love   and   good 
works. — The  mere   walking   in   and   out   of  the 
house  of  God,   may,    if  you  please,  be  called  a 
ceremonial  act;  but,   will  any  one  contend,   that 
there  is  no  moral  benefit  attached  to  the  exposi- 
tions which  are  there  given  of  the  doctrines  and 
duties  upon  which  our  faith  and  manners  are,  or 
ought  to  be,  built?     Will  any  one  contend,  that 
there  is  no  moral  responsibility  attached  to  the 
zeal  or  remissness,  with  which  we  obey  the  duties 
which  are  there  inculcated,  and  the  candour  and 
honesty  with  which  we  examine  the  doctrines  which 
are  there  expounded  ?     "  Take  ye  heed  how  ye 
hear :  for  to  him  that  hath,  shall  be  given,  and  he 
shall  have  more  abundantly:  but  from  him  that 
hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away,  even  that  which  he 
seemeth  to  have." 

But  we  have  a  right  to  assume  the  point  of 
moral  obligation  as  already  settled ;  and  I  leave  it 
to  all  who  have  attended  to  what  was  advanced 


252 

under  the  preceding  Sections  of  this  Treatise,  to 
say,  whether  an  ample  mass  of  testimony  has  not 
been  produced  to  satisfy  every  unprejudiced  in- 
quirer on  this  head. 

We  turn  again,  therefore,  to  the  moral  ad- 
vantages, which  the  devout  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath spreads  over  society;  and  we  ask  our  readers, 
if  they  have  never,  at  any  period  of  their  life,  been 
charmed  with  the  spectacle  of  happiness,  which 
the  solemnization  of  the  rites  of  religion  presented? 
Has  it  never  fallen  to  your  lot,  in  some  not  lonely, 
but  peaceful  hamlet,  to  have  your  ears  delighted, 
and  your  piety  awakened,  as  you  wandered  through 
its  lanes,  and  heard  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath 
consecrated  by  the  praises  of  its  inmates?  In  the 
dwellings  of  the  righteous,  is  heard  the  voice  of 
rejoicing  and  salvation:  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
their  strength  and  their  song.  Have  not  your 
souls,  then,  felt  a  holy  influence  pervade  their 
aflfections,  when  you  listened  to  the  untutored 
notes  of  melody,  which  carried  the  sacrifice  of  a 
devout  heart  to  the  source  of  perfection  and 
power;  and  have  you  not  experienced  all  your 
sensibilities  expand  with  the  pious  aspiration,  that 
the  emotions  of  your  gratitude  and  praise  might 
ascend,  along  with  their  offering,  to  the  sanctuary 
of  purity  and  bliss?  Have  you  never  marked,  as 
you  travelled  along  some  distant,  and,  perhaps, 


253 

dreary  region  of  your  own  country,  where  all  its 
rugged  and  frowning  scenery  held  you  in  a  listless 
admiration  of  some  visionary  or  undefined  power — 
have  you  never  marked,  how  the  sullen  features 
of  the  overhanging  mountain  seemed  to  be  softened 
into  mildness  and  placidity,  by  the  smiling  prospect 
of  some  plain,  but  picturesque  mansion,  which 
the  piety  of  your  forefathers  had  there  planted  as 
a  temple  to  the  Lord ;  and  to  which  now  the 
simple  peasantry  of  the  surrounding  hills  were 
hastening,  to  present  the  thanksgiving  which  the 
past  week  had  inspired,  and  to  dedicate  to  Him 
the  virtues  which  the  present  might  require?  Did 
you  not  perceive,  how  the  devotion  of  their  hearts 
diffused  serenity  over  their  countenances;  and, 
while  you  gazed  at  the  surrounding  group,  did 
you  not  fancy  that  you  heard  in  their  language, 
or  saw  in  their  gait,  something  of  the  heavenliness 
which  the  instructions  of  their  Pastor  breathed 
upon  them?  Did  you  not  mingle  with  their  con- 
versations; and  were  you  not  satisfied,  that  the 
lessons  of  divine  wisdom,  which  they  carried  from 
the  house  of  God,  formed  the  rule  of  their  actions 
in  society:  and  that  their  steadfastness  in  duty; 
their  consolation  under  aflSiction;  their  resistance 
to  temptation;  their  submission  to  their  superiors; 
their  deference  and  respect  for  their  equals ;  their 
compassion  for  the  distressed;  and  their  benevolence 
Y 


S54 

to  the  destitute — were  chiefly,  if  not  altogether, 
derived  from  the  impressive,  and  persuasive,  and 
fatherly  admonitions  of  him  who  taught  them, 
that  it  was  "  no  vain  thing  to  wait  upon  the 
Lord,  neither  was  it  unprofitable  to  keep  his 
ordinances." 

Yes;  we  are  certain  that  we  can  appeal  with 
confidence  to  the  history  of  society,  for  a  confir- 
mation of  this  assertion — that  wherever  the  ap- 
pointments and  ordinances  of  God,  have  been  most 
sacredly  observed,  there  have  the  institutions  and 
the  laws  of  man  been  most  punctually  maintained: 
wherever  the  worship  of  God  has  been  most 
faithfully  preserved  and  performed,  there  have  the 
person  and  property  of  man  been  most  universally 
respected  and  protected.  What  is  it  that  has  shed  a 
glory  around  our  own  country?  What  is  it  that  has 
given  it,  among  neighbouring  nations,  the  reputa- 
tion of  learning  and  virtue?  What,  but  the  religious 
institutions  which  our  ancestors  founded  ;  and  the 
benefits  of  which  we  now  enjoy,  on  the  express 
condition,  that  we  imitate  their  example,  by 
walking  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances 
of  the  Lord?  W^hat  is  it  that  restrains  men  from 
crime,  in  those  districts  where  police  and  municipal 
laws  are  least  known,  but  the  influence  of  those 
pious  instructions,  which,  on  every  first  day  of 
the  week,  are  delivered  out  of  that  book,  which 


255 

commands  "  all  the  people  to  be  gathered  to- 
gether— men,  women,  and  children,  and  the  stranger 
that  is  within  the  gates — that  they  may  hear, 
and  that  they  may  learn,  and  fear  the  Lord,  and 
observe  and  do  all  the  words  of  his  law?" — Public 
confidence  and  honour  have  always  flourished 
most  vigorously,  where  the  principles  of  religion 
have  been  most  purely  taught.  Integrity  and 
truth  have  always  most  adorned  the  transactions 
of  that  society  which  cultivated  most  extensively 
the  worship  of  God.  Public  tranquilh'ty  and  hap- 
piness have  always  prevailed,  with  least  interrup- 
tion, in  those  quarters  where  the  ordinances  and 
maxims  of  the  Gospel  have  been  most  universally 
observed. 

"  Behold,  then,  the  commandment  is  not  hidden 
from  us,  neither  is  it  far  off.  It  is  not  in  heaven, 
that  we  should  say.  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to 
heaven,  and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear 
and  do  it?  Neither  is  it  beyond  the  sea,  that  we 
should  say.  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us,  and 
bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  and  do  it? 
But  the  word  is  very  nigh  unto  us,  it  is  even  in 
our  mouth,  and  in  our  heart,  that  we  may  do  it."* 
Our  fathers  instructed  us  in  it,  and  the  blessings 
which  they  received  as  the  fruits  of  its  observance, 


*   Deut.  XXX.  11 — 14. 
Y  2 


256 

they  have  bequeathed  as  a  rich  inheritance  to  us. 
Their  respect  for  the  ordinances,  and  their  obe- 
dience of  the  laws  of  God,  shed  a  glory  and  a 
defence  around  their  character  and  their  dwellings; 
and  we  inherit  the  rewards  of  their  piety  and  zeal, 
on  the  express  condition,  that  we  walk  in  the  ways 
that  the  Lord  hath  commanded  us.  "  I  command 
you,  therefore,  this  day,"  said  their  great  law- 
giver; "  to  love  the  Lord  your  God,  and  to  keep 
his  statutes  and  his  judgments,  that  you  may  live 
and  multiply.  But  if  you  turn  away  your  heart, 
so  that  you  will  not  hear,  I  denounce  unto  you 
this  day,  that  you  shall  surely  perish.  I  call 
heaven  and  earth  to  witness,  that  I  have  set  before 
you,  life  and  death,  good  and  evil ;  choose, 
therefore,  the  good,  that  you  and  your  seed  may 
live."  * 

Look  around  the  nations  of  the  earth — examine 
their  manners  and  their  institutions,  and  say, 
which  are  those  that  are  most  distinguished  for 
political  tranquillity  and  happiness?  Where  is 
public  prosperity  most  strikingly  conjoined  with 
individual  enjoyment?  Where  is  the  science  of 
government  best  understood — and  where  are  its 
principles  and  its  laws  most  clearly  defined,  and 
most    prudently     and     mercifully    administered? 

*   Deut.  2)assim. 


257 

Where  does  crime  meet  its  most  prompt  and  just 
award — and  where  do  virtue  and  truth  flourish  and 
spread  most  vigorous  and  prosperous,  through  all 
the  gradations  of  life?  It  is  a  proud  and  an 
undeniable  tribute  to  the  excellence  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  that,  wherever  its  doctrines  and  its 
precepts  have  been  best  understood,  and  most 
extensively  practised,  there  have  public  and  pri- 
vate happiness  most  universally  prevailed.  The 
mild  genius  of  the  Gospel  has  softened  the  horror 
and  the  cruelty  of  the  legislative  enactments  of 
many  countries;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
cases,  where  artful  and  wicked  men  have  prosti- 
tuted its  influence  to  the  gratification  of  their 
secular  ambition,  it  has  spread  gladness  and  joy 
over  the  moral  aspect  of  human  nature. 

It  is  upon  the  cultivation  of  individual  virtue, 
that  public  morality  is  founded;  and,  therefore,  all 
of  us  are  accountable  for  the  purity,  or  the  profli- 
gacy of  the  land  we  inhabit.  It  is  on  the  basis  of 
religious  principle  alone,  that  true  political  security 
and  peace  can  be  built;  and  it  is  in  the  power  of 
every  man  to  add  to  public  prosperity  and  confi- 
dence, by  adding  the  example  of  personal  holiness 
to  the  recommendation  of  public  integrity?  But, 
how  will  you  preserve  the  practice  of  virtue  among 
a  people  who  have  put  away  all  fear  of  God  from 
before  their  eyes?  Will  that  family  entertain 
Y  3 


258 

any  regatd  for  the  duties  of  private  devotion, 
which  has  openly  contemned  all  reverence  for  the 
public  ordinances  of  religion?  Or,  how  will  you 
save  a  country  from  moral  debasement  and  ruin, 
if  its  inhabitants  are  a  race  of  evil  doers,  who 
have  forsaken  the  Lord,  and  provoked  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel  to  anger?  Experience  has  proved 
to  us,  that  a  nation  must  be  virtuous,  before  it  can 
be  happy — its  citizens  must  be  good,  before  they 
can  be  loyal — and  its  government  must  be  just, 
before  it  can  be  strong.  What  avail  the  wisest 
and  most  equitable  laws,  if  the  people  are  ignorant 
and  depraved?  What  avail  the  best  framed  sta- 
tutes, and  the  most  judicious  enactments  of  politi- 
cal wisdom,  if  the  dispensers  of  the  law  are  tyrants 
and  the  people  slaves?  What  avail  the  most  just 
decisions  of  moral  and  political  right,  when  profli- 
gacy reigns  predominant  throughout  society,  and 
all  respect  for  the  laws  of  man  has  been  destroyed 
by  the  extinction  of  all  regard  for  the  glory  of  God? 
If  you  break  down  the  public  ordinances  of 
religion,  you  will  instantly  break  down  the  bul- 
warks of  public  virtue ;  and  if  you  obliterate  from 
society  the  public  worship  of  God,  you  will  speedily 
destroy,  in  the  minds  of  its  members — you  will 
quickly  efface,  from  the  conscience  of  man,  all 
regard  for  the  laws  and  the  appointments  of 
humanity.    If  you  destroy  the  sanctions  of  religion, 


259 

or  if  you  neglect  and  despise  them  In  the  court  and 
m  the  palace,  you  will  annul  the  efficacy  of  its 
enactments  in  the  cottage — and  if  you  take  away 
the  influence  of  its  restraints  and  denouncements 
from  the  minds  of  the  mass  of  mankind;  you  have 
annihilated,  in  their  estimation,  the  influence  of 
political   authority  and  power.     Let  the  experi- 
ment be  made  once,  and  we  are  sure  it  will  never 
be  repeated.     Infidelity  will  occupy  the  seats  of 
justice  and  of  mercy.     The  courts  of  legislation 
will  be  filled  with  a  wild  group  of  disorderly  and 
chimerical  visions.     The  dreams  of  a  vain  philo- 
sophy will  take  the  place  of  the  dictates  of  moral 
and  religious  truth.  ,  Improvement  and  refinement 
will  be  held  out  In  prospect,  while  degeneracy  and 
degradation  are  experienced  in  fact.     A  new  era 
of  regeneration  and  blessedness  will  be  preached 
up  by  the  disciples  of  falsehood,  while  the  ministers 
of  truth  are  announcing  the  approach  of  debase- 
ment   and    misery.       The    relaxation    of   public 
principle  will  speedily  spread   Its  baneful  effects 
over  the  lowest   condition   of  private  life.     The 
abolition  of  the  public  establishments  of  religion, 
will   be   followed  with  the  subversion  of  public 
tranquillity  and   happiness.       Vile    men    will    be 
exalted,  and  the  wicked  will  walk  on  every  side. 
The  demoralizing  contagion   of  profaneness  and 
profligacy,  will  extend   through  all  ranks  In  the 


^60 

community;  the  immorality  of  the  court,  will  soon 
reach  the  hamlet;  and  all  the  parade  of  laws  and 
proclamations,  will  not  be  able  to  preserve  the 
boundaries  of  personal  honour  and  fidelity  entire, 
or  inviolate.  * 

A  conflict  of  opposing  interests  and  schemes  will 
arise — all  deference  and  respect  for  each  other's 
opinions  and  property  will  be  neglected — a  selfish 
and  sordid  spirit  be  engendered  among  men — 
benevolence  will  forsake  the  human  heart — a 
savage  and  ferocious  temper  will  take  possession  of 
it,  and  justice,  morality,  and  truth,  will  be  sacri- 
ficed, by  turns,  to  its  capricious  and  ever-changing 
mandates.  The  visions  of  philosophy  will  vanish 
before  the  rude  assaults  of  malignant  and  incensed 
passions — the  illusions  of  moral  amelioration,  which 
spring  from  the  imaginary  perfection  of  the  human 
character,  will  fade  before  the  sable  train  which 
follows  in  the  march  of  tumult  and  crime — and 
over  the  fair  picture  of  ideal  felicity  and  peace, 
the  shades  of  wretchedness  and  horror  will 
spread.  "  O  that  thou  wouldst  know,  in  this  the 
day  of  thy  merciful  visitation,  the  things  which 
belong  unto  thy  peace,  before  they  be  for  ever  hid 
from  thine  eyes!  Wherefore,  be  instructed,  O 
Jerusalem!  lest  my  soul  depart  from  thee;  lest  I 
make  thee  desolate,  a  land  not  inhabited."  f 

«  See  Note  G.  f  Jerem.  vi.  8. 


261     / 

This  is  not  an  imaginary  picture  which  we  are 
holding  up  to  view,  nor  are  we  endeavouring  to 
give  excitement  to  the  feelings  of  piety,  at  the 
expense  of  the  most  cautious  dictate  of  the  under- 
standing. We  are  not  conjuring  up  a  fictitious 
detail  of  national  immoralities.  Nor  are  we 
pleading  the  cause  of  the  public  ordinances  of 
the  Gospel,  to  the  prejudice  of  one  tittle  of  the 
truth.  We  have  not  advanced  a  single  figure  of 
description,  which  has  not  been  realized  in  society; 
and  it  is  because  there  has  been  manifested,  among 
certain  classes  of  our  population,  a  growing  spirit 
of  infidelity  and  profaneness,  unprecedented  in  the 
annals  of  our  hitherto  peaceful  and  happy  country, 
that  we  have  so  pointedly  detailed  the  consequences 
of  national  apostacy  and  profligacy.  Righteous- 
ness alone  is  the  true  glory  of  a  nation;  but  sin  is 
the  reproach  and  disgrace  of  every  people.  We 
trust,  therefore,  that  those  scenes  which  are  the 
forerunners  of  anarchy  and  tumult,  will  never  be 
witnessed  within  our  borders;  and  that  we,  who 
have  long  possessed,  and  long  deserved,  the 
character  of  a  moral  and  religious  people,  will 
continue  to  maintain  our  claim  to  it,  by  the  con- 
scientious discharge  of  the  duties  on  which  its 
existence  depends.  But  the  beginning  of  evil,  is 
like  the  letting  out  of  water;  and  we  cannot  too 
carefully   guard   against   its  first  encroachments. 


262 

That  which  at  first  seems  an  inconsiderable  stream, 
soon  becomes  a  mighty  torrent.  If  the  flood-gates 
of  corruption  are  thrown  open  in  the  high  places 
of  the  earth,  the  strongest  barriers  will  soon  be 
broken  down  by  the  impetuosity  of  its  current. 
The  highest  banks  will  be  undermined  by  its  whirl- 
pools, or  swept  away  by  the  fury  of  its  course;  and 
the  fairest  and  the  richest  scenery  that  adorns  the 
adjacent  plain,  will  be  for  ever  blighted  and  obli- 
terated by  its  desolating  force. 

But,  all  metaphor  apart,  we  have  lived  at  a 
period  of  the  world  in  which  we  have  seen  the 
moral  and  political  evils  we  have  just  described, 
exemplified;  and  the  nations  of  Europe  are  not 
yet  fully  recovered  from  the  consternation  and 
dread  which  they  spread  among  them.  The  time 
is  not  long  past,  since  a  nation  attempted  to  change 
its  God  for  those  who  were  no  gods.  We  have 
lived  in  an  age,  when  the  institutions  and  the  rites 
of  religion  were  publicly  broken  down  and  insulted; 
and  the  upstart  authorities  of  the  country  openly 
encouraged  the  people  in  the  commission  of  crime, 
that  they  might  encourage  them  to  destroy  the 
emblems  and  the  worship  of  the  cross.  The  very 
name,  and  symbols,  and  allusions  of  Christianity, 
were  blotted  out  of  their  calendars  and  records;  and 
every  means  employed  which  could  impress,  upon 
the  mind  of  man,  the  monstrous  belief,  that  his 


Q63 

existence   and   his   hopes   perished   in    the   same 
grave!     All  restraint  from  iniquity  was  attempted 
to    be    removed    from    his    apprehension,  by  the 
attempt  to  remove  all  dread  of  futurity:   and  the 
most  loathsome  excesses  of  profligacy,  recommended 
and  sanctioned  by  the  functionaries  of  power,  that 
his  moral  character  and  accountability  might  be 
effaced  from  his  mind !    But  we  know,  that  "  though 
hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go  un- 
punished*    For   the  righteousness  of  the  perfect 
shall  direct  his  way;  but  the  wicked  shall  fall  by 
his  own  wickedness."     And,  in  the  history  of  the 
people  referred  to,  we  have  seen  an  awful  illustra- 
tion  of  the   truth  of  these  sayings.     The  gloom 
and  despair  of  death,  appeared  to  settle  on  their 
perverted    understandings — the    odiousness     and 
debasement  of  vice,  spread  over  all  their  devices 
and  actions — and  the  ceaseless  turbulence,  in  which 
their  passions  and  profaneness  held  them,  marked 
them  out  as  a  people  ripening  in  iniquity,  upon 
whom   the  vials  of   wrath   and  destruction   were 
speedily  to  be  poured.     "  Be  astonished  at  this, 
O  ye  heavens!  and  thou  earth,  be  horribly  afraid!" 
For  this  people  committed  two  great  evils — they 
renounced    the   God   of  their    fathers,    and   that 
which  should  have  been  their  glory,  they  turned 
into  their  shame.     But  their  own  wickedness  has 
corrected    them;    and    their    backslidings    have 


264 

reproved  them;  and  we,  and  all  who  have  seen 
it,  have  been  taught,  that  it  is  indeed  an  "  evil  and 
a  bitter  thing  to  forsake  the  Lord,  and  to  put 
away  the  fear  of  his  laws  and  his  ordinances  from 
before  our  eyes." 

«'  Hear  ye,  then,  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 

GIVE  HEED  UNTO  HIS  COUNSEL.  StAND  YE  IN  THE 
WAYS  AND  SEE.  AsK  FOR  THE  OLD  PATH,  WHERE 
IS  THE  GOOD  WAY,  AND  WALK  THEREIN,  AND  YE 
SHALL  FIND  REST  TO  YOUR  SOULS.  If  YE  WILL 
OBEY  MY  VOICE,  AND  KEEP  MY  COVENANT,  THEN  YE 
SHALL  BE  A  PECULIAR  TREASURE  UNTO  ME,   ABOVE 

ALL  PEOPLE.     When   the  poor  and  the  needy 

SEEK  FOR  FOOD,  AND  THERE  IS  NONE — AND  WHEN 
their  tongue  FAILETH  for  thirst, — I  THE  LoRD 
WILL  HEAR  THEM — I  THE  GoD  OF  IsRAEL  WILL  NOT 
FORSAKE  THEM; — THAT  THEY  MAY  SEE,  AND  KNOW, 
AND  UNDERSTAND,  AND  CONSIDER,  THAT  THE  HAND 

OF  THE  Lord  hath  done  this — that  he  is  found 

OF  ALL  WHO  SEEK  HIM — BUT  THAT  ALL  WHO 
depart  FROM  HIM,   HE  WILL  CAST  OFF  FOR  EVER." 


NOTES. 


Note  A Page  22. 

The  evidence  which  might  be  adduced  from  ancient 
writers,  in  support  of  the  views  we  have  advanced, 
is  very  copious  and  convincing;  and  did  it  not  give 
some  appearance  of  a  parade  of  learning  to  the  Work, 
we  might  have  detailed  it  at  some  length  in  the 
Section  to  which  this  Note  refers.  As  such  a  detail, 
however,  might  interrupt  the  plain  reader  in  following 
out  the  general  train  of  the  argument  employed,  we 
have  deemed  it  more  advisable,  because  more  useful, 
to  give  a  few  additional  remarks  under  this  form. 

Just  as  the  universal  belief  of  mankind  in  a  supreme 
intelligent  Cause,  to  account  for  all  the  beautiful 
effects  of  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  which  we 
behold  in  the  external  world,  is  assumed  as  an  argu- 
ment in  support  of  the  existence  of  God — so  may  we 
employ  the  universal  custom,  which  prevailed  among 
all  ancient  nations,  of  computing  time  by  weeks,  as 
a  testimony  of  the  early  universal  knowledge  of  the 
Sabbath.  It  is  not  denied,  by  any  writer,  profane  or 
sacred,  that  this  mode  of  reckoning  lime  was  practised 
by  every  people,  of  whose  history  we  know  any  thing. 
Seven  days  were  the  invariable  complement,  and 
z 


^66 

every  day  was  consecrated  to  some  heathen  deity, 
whose  name  it  bore.     The   planets  were  the   chief 
objects  of  their  religious  veneration.     The  sun  held 
the  highest  rank  among  the  idols  of  their  worship, 
and  the  day  which  was  honoured  with  its  name,  was 
distinguished  by  peculiar  solemnities  and  rites.     Nor 
was  this  the  practice  of  one  nation,  or  of  neighbouring 
nations  only,  but  it  obtained  among  remote  tribes  of 
men,  quite  miconnected  by  any  species  of  traffic,  and 
totally  unknown  to  one  another.    The  ancient  Saxons, 
Romans,  Greeks,   Egyptians,   and  other  nations,  as 
we  shall  show  in  a  little,  followed  the  method  of  com- 
puting by  weeks,  of  seven  days  each ;  and  every  day 
was  denominated  after  some  object  of  their  idolatry. 
Now,  it  is  not  at  all  explicable,  how  this  custom 
could  have  obtained  so  universally,  unless  we  go  back 
to  its  origin  under  the  monarchs  of  Assyria — before 
men  had  migrated  far  from  the  plains  of  Shinar — 
when  the  idolatry  of  the  heavenly  host  was  universal; 
and  the  days  of  the  week  were  distinguished  by  the 
names  of  the  stars,  which  they  had  clothed  with  the 
attributes  of  divinity.     Astronomy  was   one  of  the 
earliest  branches  of  science  to  which  the  attention 
of  mankind  was  directed;   and  out  of  its  study,  we 
know    there    sprung  the  wildest   and  most   general 
adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies.     Nimrod  is  charac- 
terized by  Moses,  as  "  a  mighty  hunter  before  the 
Lord;"  and  other  historians  represent  him  to  have 
lorded  his  power  very  tyrannically  over  his  brethren 
in  the  plains  of  Shinar,  and  to  have  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  mighty  Assyrian  monarchy,  under  which,  the 
idolatry  we  have  mentioned   was  so  widely  spread. 
Nimrod   was   only   the    third   from    Noah — mankind 
in  his  time,  could  not  have  removed  far  from  the 


267 

place  where  the  ark  rested,  after  the  waters  of  the 
flood  had  subsided — the  customs  of  one  party  would 
be  known  to  all — and  the  idolatry  which  characterized 
different  nations  in  later  ages,  must  have  its  origin 
explained  by  the  practice  of  the  immediate  descendants 
of  Noah. 

Moreover,  throughout  the  lands  of  Assyria  and 
Chaldea,  astrology  was  long  cultivated  as  the  most 
honourable  department  of  human  learning,  and  the 
most  certain  recommendation  to  offices  of  distinction 
and  power.  It  was  the  general  belief,  that  the  rise 
and  fall  of  nations,  and  the  good  and  evil  fortune  of 
individuals,  were  under  the  influence  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  because  these  were  conceived  to  be  the  sole 
governors  of  the  universe;  and,  hence,  the  knowledge 
of  their  revolutions,  and  imaginary  occult  powers, 
became  the  object  of  study  and  attainment  by  all 
who  aspired  to  a  share  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
The  magi  of  Assyria,  the  sophi  of  Persia,  and  the 
priests  of  Egypt,  possessed  all  the  learning  of  the  age, 
and  were  consulted  in  every  case  of  political  emer- 
gency, or  state  necessity,  for  directions  to  conciliate 
the  favour,  or  avert  the  vengeance  of  the  gods,  whose 
anger  had  involved  them  in  perplexity  and  danger.  * 

We  know  it  is  the  very  nature  of  all  idolatry  or 
superstition,  to  engender  itself,  or  to  increase  the 
objects  of  veneration — to  multiply  the  rites  of  worship 
— and  to  chain  the  human  mind  in  servitude  to  the 
most  depraved  and  degrading  opinions  and  passions. 
Degeneracy  in  practice,  never  fails  to  lead  to  debase- 
ment of  principle.  Ignorance  and  depravity  are  closely 


Boemus  de  Assyria. 
Z    2 


268 

allied,  and  when  men  lose  those  high  intellectual  and 
moral  distinctions,  which  lift  them  to  a  fellowship  with 
the  Author  of  their  being,  they  necessarily  sink  into 
the  grossest  degradation  of  moral  character  and  con- 
duct. Accordingly,  we  find,  that,  as  they  wandered 
from  their  original  settlements,  they  wandered  from 
the  first  objects  of  their  religious  veneration — lost 
those  notions  of  divine  power  and  majesty  which 
they  originally  entertained — and  worshipped  and 
served  the  creatures  of  their  own  darkened  and 
bewildered  imaginations. 

At  the  time  Abraham  migrated  from  Chaldea  to 
Eygpt,  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  country  knew 
very  little  of  the  science  of  astronomy;  and  we  are 
informed,  that  he  was  richly  rewarded  by  the  king  for 
instructing  the  priests  in  the  knowledge  of  that 
science.  *  It  was  about  600  years  before  the  incar- 
nation of  our  Saviour,  that  the  Greeks  were  instructed 
in  the  revolutions  and  influences  of  the  planets,  when 
Thales,  Anaximander  his  disciple,  and  Pythagoras, 
taught  them  the  knowledge  they  had  acquired  from 
the  priests  of  Egypt  and  the  magi  of  Chaldea.  In 
later  times,  we  find  the  Romans  still  farther  removed 
from  this  knowledge  than  the  Greeks;  and,  in  general, 
history  bears  us  out  in  saying,  that  the  greater  their 
distance  was  from  the  plains  of  Shinar,  the  more 
remote  v/ere  they  from  the  knowledge  and  customs 
of  the  early  worshippers  of  heaven. 

Yet,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  all  nations,  then 
accounted  civilized,  under  one  form  or  another, 
acknowledged   the    existence    of   a   God,    although 


*  Jos.  de  Antiq.  Jud.   lib.  I.  c.  16. 


269 

unassisted  reason  could  not  instruct  them  in  the 
true  nature  of  his  attributes,  or  direct  them  to  the 
most  suitable  and  becoming  mode  of  offering  him 
adoration  and  praise.  Plato  himself,  so  highly 
honoured  among  schoolmen,  for  the  sublimity  and 
extent  of  his  philosophical  knowledge,  could  rise 
on  this  subject,  very  little  above  the  most  ignorant 
of  his  countrymen. — "  Dicere  quid,  (Deus,)  sit,  non 
ausus  est:  hoc  solum  de  eo  sciens,  quod  sciri  quale 
sit  ab  homine  non  possit — solum  vero  ei  simillimum 
de  visibilibus  Solem  reperit."  *  There  was  no  created 
being,  which  awakened  in  the  minds  of  men  such 
exalted  ideas  of  glory  and  power  as  the  sun,  whose 
going  forth  is  from  the  end  of  the  heaven,  and  his 
circuit  unto  the  end  of  it  again;  and,  therefore,  there 
was  no  object  which  presented  to  them  a  more  perfect 
idea  of  the  excellence  of  God. — "  Apud  priscas 
Gentilitatis  nationes,  nil  prorsus  inter  creata  cuncta, 
quod  mortalium  mentes  in  sui  venerationem  alliceret, 
pertraheretque  magis  quam  ipse  Sol,  ob  nimium 
splendorem  eminentiamque  sui,  comperiebatur?"-}- 

The  Chaldeans  were  the  first  who  instituted  the 
worship  of  this  planet,  as  the  supreme  divinity;  and 
it  soon  fomid  its  way  among  the  Persians,  where  it 
continued  till  a  late  period.  (Boemus  et  Sozomen 
Hist.  Ecc.  I.  8.)  The  Egyptians  of  old,  offered 
worship  to  the  same  being;  (Euseb.  de  praep. 
Evangel.)  for,  when  they  investigated  the  fabric  cf 
the  world,  and  were  lost  in  admiration  of  the  nature 
of  things,  they  concluded,   that   the   sun  and  moon 


♦  Macrob.  in  somn.  Scip.   lib.  I.  c.  2. 
f  GIos.  Mag.  in   Gen.   cap.   1. 

z   3 


270 

were  everlasting  gods,  and  governors  of  the  universe. 
The  Phoenicians  venerated  the  sun  as  God;  and  the 
idol  which  they  set  up  as  his  image,  they  denominated 
Heliogabalus.  The  Trojans  and  Greeks  had  many 
divinities;  but  it  is  manifest,  from  various  sources, 
that  the  sun  originally  held  the  highest  rank  among 
the  objects  of  their  veneration.  As  Belus  was  the 
tutelary  deity  of  Babylon,  so  was  Pallas  of  Troy. 
Her  image,  the  Palladium,  said  to  have  descended 
from  the  sun,  was  placed  in  the  temple  of  Phoebus, 
just  as  the  images  of  the  planets,  with  the  Egyptians, 
were  kept  in  the  house  of  the  sun.  *  At  Athens,  the 
court  of  judgment  was  without  any  covering,  in  full 
view  of  the  sun,  because  it  was  considered  impossible 
that  the  judge  would  give  an  unjust  decision,  in  the 
sight  of  a  being  who  sees  and  hears  all  things,  and 
has  an  avenging  eye.  f  Under  various  names  and 
forms,  the  Romans  paid  divine  honours  to  the  same 
object,  as  may  be  learned  from  an  author  already 
quoted. :{:  The  Ethiopians  and  Tartars,  though 
widely  separated  in  geographical  position,  closely 
agreed  in  the  worship  of  the  same  heavenly  body;  and 
the  Messagetae,  a  Scythian  people,  acknowledged  and 
worshipped  no  other  divinity;  "  Deum  quendem,  sed 
non  decs  agnoscunt.  Ex  diis  unum  solem  venerantur, 
cui  equos  immolant,  &c."  |1 

These  authorities,  we  trust,  will  be  deemed  suffi- 
cient to  establish  the  opinion,  that,  as  astrology  was 
one  of  the  earliest  branches  of  knowledge  cultivated 
by  men,  so  the    sun  was  the   imaginary  divinity  to 


*  Jer.  xliii.  13.  f  Horn.  II.  lib.  .5. — Plato  de  legibus. 

\  Macrob.  Saturn.  1.  I.  c.  17  and  23.  ||  Boeimis  de  Scythian 


271 


which  they  ascribed  the  highest  attributes,  and  paid 
the  highest  honours.  The  periodical  revolution  of 
seven  days,  was  also  one  of  the  earliest  modes  of 
computing  the  lapse  of  time  known  among  them; 
and  every  one  of  these  days  was  supposed  to  be  under 
the  government  of  one  of  the  deities  whom  they  had 
discovered  in  the  firmament.  As  the  attributes  of 
divinity  were  ascribed  to  these  created  and  inanimate 
beings,  so  divine  honours  were  universally  paid  to 
them.  But,  as  their  blinded  worshippers  assigned  to 
them  a  diversity  of  power  and  influence,  so,  of  con- 
sequence, did  they  institute  a  distinction  in  the 
solemnities  with  which  they  observed  the  days  sacred 
to  their  name  and  service.  The  sun  was  invested  with 
the  most  transcendent  perfections;  and  the  day  of  the 
week  which  bore  its  name,  was  held  as  a  religious 
festival,  and  accounted  to  possess  a  sanctity  above  all 
the  others. 

We  are  aware,  that,  in  order  to  invalidate  the  views 
we  have  hitherto  supported,  and  to  refute  the  argu- 
ment for  the  moral  obligation  of  sanctifying  the 
Sabbath,  derived  from  the  antiquity  of  the  institution, 
and  the  universality  of  its  observance,  it  has  been 
asserted,  that  the  seventh  day,  sacred  to  the  sun, 
among  the  heathen,  was  the  seventh  day  of  the 
month,  and  not  the  seventh  day  of  the  week.  In 
answer  to  this  assertion,  (which  we  regard  as  quite 
gratuitous,)  we  observe, 

I.  That  Eusebius  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus  have 
fully  proved,  from  the  ancient  poets.  Homer,  Hesiod, 
Callimachus,  and  Linus,  that  it  was  the  seventh  day  of 
the  week,  and  not  the  seventh  day  of  the  month,  which 
was  accounted  sacred.  The  language  they  employ, 
clearly  points  to  the  creation,  and  the  festival  they 


celebrate,  must  have  been  that  which  was  instituted  in 
commemoration  of  that  event. 

"  It  was  the  seventh  day  on  which  all  things 
were  finished."     Homer. 

"  The  seventh  day  came,  on  which  all  things 
were  framed." — Callimachus. 
And  the  language  of  Linus  is  still  more  descriptive 
of  the  Sabbath — '<  The  seventh  day  is  an  auspicious 
day,  for  it  is  the  birth-day  of  all  things.  The  seventh 
holds  the  foremost  rank  among  the  days,  for  it  is  a 
perfect  day." 

II.  If  the  day  sacred  to  the  sun,  had  been  the 
seventh  day  of  the  month,  and  not  of  the  week, 
undoubtedly  we  should  have  found  some  testimony  of 
this  in  the  ancient  Greek  calendars.  For,  although  it 
was  impossible  for  that  people  to  set  down  constantly 
the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  on  account  of  their 
having  to  note  so  many  intercalery  days,  just  as  it 
would  be  impossible  for  us  to  mark  the  moveable 
feasts,  except  in  an  annual  almanack,  before  the  year 
was  adjusted  by  Julius  Caesar — yet,  there  is  no  calen- 
dar to  be  found,  in  which  the  principal  fixed  festivals 
or  sacred  days  are  omitted.  Now,  there  is  an  ancient 
Attic  calendar,  preserved  in  Scaligery  de  emendatione 
Temp.f  in  which  events  of  very  trifling  consequence  are 
noted,  but  in  which  this  seventh  day  of  each  month, 
sacred  to  the  sun,  is  not  mentioned.  The  silence 
respecting  it,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof 
of  its  non-existence. 

III.  We  have  the  testimony  of  many  most  learned  and 
credible  writers,  that  the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  was 
accounted  sacred  among  all  nations;  but  after  what  I 
have  stated  above,  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  enlarge 
quotations  on  the  subject.     Chrysostome,  in  his  Tenth 


Homily  on  Genesis,  says,  *'  Jam  hinc  ab  initio  doc- 
trinam  hanc  nobis  insinuat  Deus,  erudiens  in  circulo 
hebdomadae  diem  unum  integrum  segregrandum  et 
reponendum,  ad  spiritualem  operationem."  Steuchius, 
on  Gen.  ii.,  affirms  it  to  have  been  "  in  omne  aetate, 
inter  omnes  gentes,  venerabilis  et  sacer."  Philo 
Judaeus,  in  hisLife  of  Moses,  makes  this  bold  challenge 
— "  Quis  sacrum  ilium  diem,  per  singulas  hebdomadas 
recurrentem,  non  honorat?" 

IV.  The  day  which  the  heathen  held  sacred  to  the 
sun,  was  the  same  day  of  the  week  which  we  call  the 
Lord's  Day. 

A  very  copious  detail  of  authorities,  might  be 
adduced  in  proof  of  this  position;  but  we  shall  con- 
fine ourselves  to  one  or  two.  Very  satisfactory  testi- 
mony of  its  truth,  may  be  had,  by  referring  to  Dr. 
Heylin's  History  of  the  Sabbath,  Part   Second. 

Sozomen,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  Book  I. 
chap.  8.,  tells  us,  that  Constantine  commanded  "  diem 
Dominicum,  quem  Ebraei  primum  Sabbati  appellant, 
et  Groeci  Soli  deputant,  «&c.  a  cunctis  celebrari." 
And  Bonaventure,  in  Tres  Destine,  37.,  informs  ushow 
the  day  was  stripped  of  its  idolatrous  worship,  and 
consecrated  to  the  commemoration  of  the  resurrection. 
**  Secundum  Gentiles,  dies  Dominicus  primus  est: 
cum  principio  illius  diei  incipit  dominari  principalis 
planeta  Sol;  propter  quod  vocabant  eundem  diem 
Solis,  et  exhibebant  ei  venerationem.  Ut  ergo  error 
ille  excluderetur,  et  reverentia  cultus  Solis  Deo 
exhiberetur,  praefixa  fuit  Dominica  dies,  qua  populus 
Christianus  vacaret  cultui  divino." 

With  one  more  quotation,  we  shall  close  this 
enumeration  of  ancient  testimonies  in  favour  of  our 
general  argument.     ''  Nos,  jure  optimo,  diem  quem 


Mathematici  Solis  vocant,  Domino  ascripsimus  dica- 
virausque,  et  illius  cultui  totum  mancipavimus."* 

The  statements  we  have  now  made,  are  decisive  of 
the  antiquity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  universality  of 
its  knowledge  and  observance  among  all  nations  and 
kindreds  of  men;  and,  if  nations  which  worshipped 
the  host  of  heaven,  and  the  creatures  of  their  own 
imaginations,  did  preserve  among  them  a  custom 
derived  from  the  earliest  age  of  our  race,  shall  not 
we,  who  enjoy  the  full  revelation  of  the  truth,  as  it  is 
in  Jesus,  and  the  clear  knowledge  of  the  attributes 
and  providence  of  the  one  living  and  true  God,  do 
honour  to  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  consult 
our  own  moral  dignity  and  eternal  felicity,  by  remem- 
bering the  Sabbath,  to  keep  it  holy?  "  By  keeping  a 
Sabbath,  we  acknowledge  a  God,  and  declare  that 
we  are  not  athiests — by  keeping  one  day  in  seven,  we 
protest  against  idolatry,  and  acknowledge  that  God, 
who,  in  the  beginning,  made  the  heavens  and  the  eai:th — 
and,  by  keeping  our  Sabbath  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  we  protest  against  Judaism,  and  acknowledge 
that  God,  who,  having  made  the  world,  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son  to  redeem  mankind.  The  observance, 
therefore,  of  the  Sunday,  in  the  Christian  church,  is  a 
public  weekly  assertion  of  the  first  two  articles  in  our 
creed — the  belief  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth — and  in  Jesus  Christ  his 
only  Son,  our  Lord."  f 


*  Cael.  Rhodigin.  Antiq.  1.  xiii.  c.  22.  f  Horsley. 


275 


Note  B — Page  22. 

The  import  of  the  phrase,  *  God  blessed  the  seventh 
day  and  hallowed  it,'    is   generally  thus  explained. 
God  set  this  day  apart  from  the  rest,  and  distinguished 
it   in   a   peculiar    manner,    by    appropriating    it     to 
religious  exercises  on  the  part   of  man:    and   con- 
descending to  engage,   on  his   own  part,  to   accept 
the  worship  and  homage,  which  should,   on  that  day, 
be   oflPered   to   him.      A    duty   is   understood    to   be 
enjoined,    and  the   promise   of  a  special  blessing  is 
annexed  to  the  regular  discharge  of  it.     This  is  the 
view  which  is  generally  taken  of  the  subject,   and 
which  gives  a  very  solemn  and  universal   obligation 
to  the  duty  of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath:  but  it  does 
not  so  definitely  convey  the  authoritative,  or  imperative 
effect,    as    that   which   Dr.   Kennicott  assigns  to  it. 
The  Hebrew  verb,   which,  in  the  above  quotation, 
is  translated  by   the  term  *  blessed,'    carries   with  it 
a    double   idea :     first,     of    blessing ;     secondly,    of 
worshipping — and  that  in  the  particular  manner  of 
worshipping  on  the  knees.     These  two  senses.   Dr. 
Kennicott  adds,  may  be  united,  when  spoken  of  man; 
but  the  first  only  can  be  understood,  when  confined 
to  God. 

When  a  Hebrew  verb  is  in  the  conjugation  Pihel, 
it  simply  expresses  action,  or  the  accomplishment  of 
any  effect:  but,  when  it  is  in  the  conjugation  Hiphel, 
it  denotes  causation,  or  the  operation  of  the  power 
by  which  any  effect  is  produced.  According  to  the 
first  of  these  modes  of  conjugation,  the  term  above 
alluded  to,    may  be  translated,    "  God  blessed  the 


276 

seventh  day,  and  honoured  it  with  peculiar  marks  of 
his  favour.  According  to  the  second,  it  will  signify, 
God  ordered  to  bless  and  worship  by  adoration. 

But,  farther,  the  particle  Kn,  in  the  verse  where 
the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  is  mentioned,  is  ren- 
dered, by  theauthority  of  Noldius,  'upon;'  and,  hence, 
the  whole  clause  assumes  this  form:  "And  God  ordered, 
or  caused,  man  to  bless  and  worship  on  the  seventh 
day."  The  other  verb,  which  is  translated  in  our 
version  of  the  Bible,  *  sanctified,'  may  be  understood 
also  as  in  the  conjugation  Hiphel,  and  its  translation 
will  then  be,  "  and  ordered  to  sanctify,  or  set  apart, 
for  sacred  uses."  Taking  the  whole  sentence  together, 
therefore,  it  will,  according  to  this  view  of  it,  run 
thus  ;  "  And  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all 
his  work  v/hich  he  had  made:  and  God  caused  man 
to  bless  and  worship  on  the  seventh  day,  and  ordered 
him  to  sanctify  it." 

"  This  interpretation,"  Dr.  Kennicott  adds,  "  as  it 
seems  conformable  to  grammar,  and  expresses  the 
sense  best,  (though  the  other  amounts  to  the  same,  but 
with  less  clearness,)  I  humbly  offer  to  the  judgment 
of  the  learned." — Dissertations  on  the  Oblations  of  Cain 
and  Abel. 


Note  C Pase  91. 


In  the  foregoing  chapter,  we  have  purposely  avoided 
entering  very  minutely  on  a  refutation  of  all  the 
objections  which  are  urged  against  the  perpetual 
moral  obligation  of  the   Sabbath,   because   we   con- 


277 

ceived,  that,  if  we  fairly  disproved  those  of  a  general 
character,  the  inferior  ones,  depending  upon  them, 
must  be  given  up  as  a  matter  of  course.  When  the 
arguments  that  are  employed  to  subvert  any  institu- 
tion, or  doctrine,  are  rather  of  a  specious  than  sub- 
stantial nature — when  they  are  founded  on  partial, 
distorted,  or  garbled  views  of  the  subject  to  which 
they  refer — it  is  injudicious  to  enter  on  a  lengthened 
or  serious  examination  of  them,  because  we  thus  give 
them  an  importance  and  consequence,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  ignorant  and  the  misinformed,  which  they 
would  not  otherwise  possess.  We  have  learned, 
however,  with  regret,  that  the  name  and  authority  of 
a  distinguished  advocate  of  Christianity,  have  been 
employed  to  an  alarming  extent,  in  many  conditions 
of  life,  as  a  sanction  to  the  neglect,  and  even  the 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath;  and  on  this  account,  we 
deem  it  necessary,  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  have 
any  taste  for  biblical  criticism,  to  examine,  a  little 
more  particularly,  the  grounds  on  which  the  indi- 
vidual in  question  rests  his  arguments. 

*'  In  my  opinion,  the  transaction  in  the  wilderness 
above  recited,*  was  the  first  actual  institution  of  the 
Sabbath.  For,  if  the  Sabbath  had  been  instituted  at 
the  time  of  the  creation,  as  the  words  in  Genesis  may 
seem  at  first  sight  to  import,  and  if  it  had  been 
observed  all  along,  from  that  time  to  the  departure  of 
the  Jews  out  of  Egypt,  a  period  of  about  two  thousand 
five  hundred  years,  it  appears  unaccountable,  that  no 
mention  of  it,  no  occasion  of  even  the  obscurest 
allusion  to  it,   should   occur,    either  in  the  general 


•  Exod.  xvi. 
A  a 


278 

history  of  the  world  before  the  call  of  Abraham, 
which  contains,  we  admit,  only  a  few  memoirs  of  its 
early  ages,  and  these  extremely  abridged;  or,  which 
is  more  to  be  wondered  at,  in  that  of  the  lives  of  the 
three  first  Jewish  patriarchs,  which,  in  many  parts  of 
the  account,  is  sufficiently  circumstantial  and  domestic. 
Nor  is  there,  in  the  passage  above  quoted  from  the 
sixteenth  chapter  of  Exodus,  any  intimation,  that 
the  Sabbath,  when  appointed  to  be  observed,  was 
only  the  revival  of  an  ancient  institution,  which  had 
been  neglected,  forgotten,  or  suspended ;  nor  is  any 
such  neglect  imputed  either  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
old  world,  or  to  any  part  of  the  family  of  Noah;  nor, 
lastly,  is  any  permission  recorded  to  dispense  with  the 
institution,  during  the  captivity  of  the  Jews,  or  on 
any  other  public  emergency."* 

This  passage  contains  the  most  serious  of  Dr. 
Paley's  objections  to  the  antiquity  and  universal 
obligation  of  the  Sabbath ;  and  we  cannot  help 
thinking,  that  an  impartial  examination  of  it,  will 
satisfy  our  readers,  that  there  is  nothing  very  for- 
midable in  it. 

It  will  readily  be  allowed,  we  presume,  that  he 
pushes  his  argument  too  far,  when  he  asserts,  that, 
in  the  preceding  history,  comprising  a  period  of  2300 
years,  there  is  no  mention,  nor  any  occasion  of  the 
obscurest  allusion  to  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
if  we  consider  that  frequent  mention  is  made  of  the 
division  of  time  into  weeks,  and  that  the  most  natural, 
and  indeed  the  only  probable  reason,  that  can  be 
assigned  for  this  mode  of  computation,  is,  that  it  was 


*  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy,  by  William  Paley,  D.  D. 
Book  V.  Chap.  7. 


279 

commemorative  of  the  work  of  creation.  We  have 
already  shown,  that,  such  being  the  case,  we  are  led, 
by  a  just  and  clear  deduction,  to  this  conclusion,  that 
the  seventh  day  must  have  been  regularly  computed 
from  the  beginning,  and  that  the  worshippers  of  the 
true  God,  had  uniformly  honoured  it  by  such  a  cessa- 
tion of  servile  labour,  as  their  circumstances  would 
permit. 

We  readily  allow,  that,  when  the  vicissitudes  of  a 
shepherd's  life  are  taken  into  account,  the  cessation 
of  servile  labour  on  the  seventh  day,  could  only  be 
occasional;  and,  therefore,  we  must  again  charge  Dr. 
Paley  with  giving  his  objection  an  unnatural  force, 
when  he  says,  **  that  the  early  institution  of  the 
Sabbath  at  the  creation,  implies  that  it  was  observed 
all  along  from  that  time  till  the  departure  of  the  Jews, 
from  Egypt."  Dr.  Paley,  surely,  would  not  have 
denied,  that  the  law  of  marriage,  or  monogamy,  was 
ordained  at  the  creation:  neither  do  we  think,  he 
would  have  argued,  that  the  polygamy  so  generally 
practised  by  the  Patriarchs  and  their  descendants, 
was  a  proof  of  the  non-enactment  of  that  law?  Yet, 
this  is  a  case  exactly  parallel  to  that  on  which  he 
founds  his  objection  to  the  law  of  the  Sabbath.  The 
neglect  of  any  institution,  or  the  silence  of  history 
respecting  its  observance,  furnishes  no  argument  in 
favour  of  the  non-existence  or  abrogation  of  its  moral 
sanctions. 

It  is  admitted  by  Dr.  Paley,  that  the  history  before 
the  time  of  Abraham,  contains  only  a  few  memoirs, 
and  these  greatly  abridged :  and  we  cannot  help 
expressing  our  surprise,  that  a  writer  of  such  general 
and  enlightened  views,  as  he  confessedly  was,  should 
have  built  his  hypothesis  respecting  the  Sabbath,  out 
Aa  2 


^80 


of  such  scanty  materials.  If  we  except  the  account 
given  of  the  death  of  Abel,  of  the  deluge,  and  the 
new  covenant  made  with  Noah,  the  whole  religious 
history  of  man,  from  the  fall  till  the  call  of  Abraham, 
including  a  period  of  more  than  2000  years,  is  con- 
tained in  a  few  short  sentences.  From  the  call  of 
Abraham,  till  the  death  of  Jacob,  embraces  a  period 
of  250  years;  and  although  this  portion  of  the  history, 
compared  with  that  which  precedes  it,  may  be  called 
circumstantial,  it  is  still  extremely  brief  and  limited 
in  its  details.  But,  as  bearing  upon  the  question  at 
issue,  let  us  compare  these  parts  of  the  sacred  history 
with  that  which  follows,  and  which  is  comprehended 
in  the  books  of  Joshua  and  Judges,  including  Ruth, 
the  two  books  of  Samuel,  and  the  books  of  Kings. 
These  different  books  contain  a  consecutive  narrative 
of  events;  for  the  two  books  of  Chronicles  may  be 
regarded  as  a  separate  history,  relating  chiefly  to 
the  affairs  of  Judah.  Now,  in  the  whole  of  this 
unbroken  narrative,  there  is  no  mention  of  the  Sab- 
bath, **  no  occasion  even  of  the  obscurest  allusion 
to  it,"  till  the  time  of  the  prophet  Elisha,  and  then, 
it  is  only  incidentally  introduced.*  I  have  shown,  in 
the  Section  to  which  this  Note  refers,  that  the  institu- 
tion is  only  alluded  to,  on  three  other  occasions, 
referring  to  different  events,  until  we  reach  the 
period  of  the  captivity  :  a  circumstance  which  clearly 
proves,  what  we  know,  in  many  other  cases,  to  be 
true,  that,  when  once  any  particular  custom  or  law 
is  established  among  a  people,  and  incorporated  with 
their  manners,  few  occasions  may  occur  of  particu- 


•  2  Kings  iv.  23. 


281 


larizing  it  in  a  general  history:  and  this  fact  may,  we 
think,  fully  remove  the  ground  of  wonder  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Paley  in  the  above  quotation. 

Again,  it  is  argued,  by  our  author,  against  the  early 
institution  of  the  Sabbath,  that  no  permission  is 
recorded  to  dispense  with  its  observance,  during  the 
residence  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  or  any  other 
public  emergency.  We  have  already  replied  to  this 
objection,  and  we  here  add,  by  way  of  supplement, 
that  neither  is  there  any  permission  recorded  to  dis- 
pense with  the  ordinance  of  sacrifice,  although,  it  is 
perfectly  evident,  that  they  considered  it  to  be  an 
obligatory  duty.  "  Let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,"  said 
they  to  Pharaoh,  "  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  our  God,  lest  he 
fall  upon  us  with  the  pestilence,  or  with  the  sword."* 
It  is  plainly  implied  by  these  words,  that  the  use  of 
sacrifice  had  been  suspended,  on  the  ground  of 
necessity;  and  might  they  not,  on  the  same  ground, 
consider  themselves  warranted  to  suspend,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  which,  although 
an  ordinance  of  great  importance,  might  be  incom- 
patible with  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed;  and  the  celebration  of  which,  might  have 
exposed  them  to  torture  and  death? 

But,  after  all,  it  is  begging  the  question  to  say, 
that  the  Israelites  did  not,  or  could  not,  observe  the 
Sabbath  in  Egypt.  We  know  that  the  Egyptians,  as 
well  as  other  nations  of  antiquity,  had  a  certain 
veneration  for  one  day  in  seven,  the  day  sacred  to  the 
Sun;  and,  rigorous  as  they  might  have  been  in  their 


*  Exod.  V.  3. 

A  a  3 


282 

treatment  of  the  Hebrews,  it  is  not  quite  probable, 
that  they  prohibited  them  the  exercise  of  all  religious 
worship,  or  that  they  granted  them  no  relaxation  of 
labour  whatever.  They  were  distinguished  rather  for 
superstition  than  impiety;  and,  although  they  would 
not  tolerate  animal  sacrifice,  because  they  regarded 
it  as  an  insult  to  their  own  religious  creed,  it 
does  not  follow  that  they  restrained  the  Israelites 
from  every  other  act  of  religious  homage.  But,  even 
taking  the  extreme  case,  that  the  full  task  was  exacted 
from  them  on  the  Sabbath,  might  they  not  be  led,  by 
this  very  circumstance,  to  observe  the  day  more 
conscientiously  in  their  own  families?  for,  it  is  evident, 
they  were  not  in  the  situation  of  domestic  slaves. 
And  as  such  an  observance  might  reasonably  be 
viewed  as  a  compliance  with  the  spirit  of  the  institu- 
tion, so  the  transition  was  easy  to  a  more  strict 
observance  of  its  lette)-,  when  they  were  travelling 
through  the  wilderness,  and  were  incorporated  in  the 
land  of  promise  as  a  nation  sui  Juris. 

A  slight  review  of  the  case  will  satisfy  us,  that  very 
little  weight  ought  to  be  attached  to  the  objection  to 
the  moral  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  derived  from  the 
circumstance  of  its  being  denominated,  "  a  sign " 
between  the  Almighty  and  the  Hebrews. 

It  ought  to  be  kept  in  mind,  that,  at  the  time  this 
people  were  delivered  irom  Egyptian  bondage,  the 
whole  world  was  sunk  in  the  grossest  idolatry;  and 
that  they  themselves  were  exceedingly  prone  to  prac- 
tise the  abominations  to  which  it  led.  The  whole  of 
the  moral  law,  therefore,  was  intended  to  distinguish 
them  from  their  heathen  neighbours,  and  mark  them 
out  as  the  worshippers  of  the  one  living  and  true  God. 
The  nations  which  were  destitute  of  divine  revelation, 


283 

had  assigned  each  day  of  the  week  to  the  tutelary  care 
of  one  of  those  imaginary  beings,  whom  they  had 
clothed  with  the  attributes  of  divinity :  and  we  have 
shown  in  a  preceding  Note  (A),  that  the  seventh  day 
was  universally  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  Sun. 
During  their  residence  in  Egypt,  the  Hebrews  had 
become  deeply  tainted  with  the  superstitions  and 
idolatry  which  prevailed  in  that  country,  and  we 
have  no  doubt,  that,  among  other  means  employed  to 
withdraw  them  from  the  worship  of  false  gods,  the 
republication  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  was  designed 
to  hold  a  conspicuous  place.  The  seventh  day  was 
devoted  by  the  Heathen  to  the  worship  of  the  Sun, 
but  the  Hebrews  were  solemnly  enjoined  to  dedicate 
the  day  of  their  leaving  the  land  of  idolatry,  to  the 
worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God,  by  a  suspen- 
sion of  all  secular  business  and  pleasure  ;  and  the 
commemoration  of  the  marvellous  display  of  his  attri- 
butes, in  framing  all  things  that  are  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  visible  and  invisible,  thrones,  dominions,  prin- 
cipalities, and  powers;  and  that  in  the  space  of  six 
days,  and  resting  on  the  seventh  day,  and  hallowing 
it.  **  Six  days  shalt  thou  do  all  thy  work,  and  on 
the  seventh  thou  shalt  rest:  that  thine  ox  and  thine 
ass  may  rest,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid,  and  the 
stranger  may  be  refreshed."  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  it  is  immediately  added,  "  in  all  things 
that  I  have  said  unto  you,  be  circumspect,  and  make 
no  mention  of  the  name  of  other  godsy  neither  let  it 
be  heard  out  of  thy  mouth."* 

Here  is  a  direct  proof  of  the  correctness  of  what 


♦  Exod.  xxiii.  12,  13. 


S84 

we  have  advanced.  The  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
is  connected  with  the  renunciation  of  idolatry,  and 
stands  as  a  testimony  against  it;  and,  in  this  sense, 
the  institution  served  as  a  "  sign"  between  the  Al- 
mighty and  his  true  and  faithful  worshippers  on  earth. 
But,  are  we  to  argue  from  this,  that  the  Sabbath  was 
a  purely  Jewish  institution,  and  to  be  regarded  as 
possessing  the  same  character  with  circumcision,  or 
any  other  subordinate  rite?  If  so,  then  we  may 
regard  the  whole  moral  law  delivered  to  that  people, 
as  having  only  a  local  and  temporary  sanction.  Let 
us  hear,  however,  the  terms  in  which  the  enunciation 
is  made — "  Verily,  my  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep;  for  it 
is  a  sign  between  me  and  you,  throughout  your  gene- 
rations; that  ye  may  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  that 
doth  sanctify  you."  *  The  cause  of  the  enactment 
is  here  stated,  and  it  is  such  as  applies  to  every  part 
of  the  divine  law,  and  is  binding  on  every  people  to 
whom  that  law  is  made  known.  It  is  a  sign  between 
the  Most  High,  and  those  to  whom  he  has  communi- 
cated the  knowledge  of  his  will,  because  its  direct 
tendency  is  to  produce  a  moral  character  essentially 
different  from  that  of  idolatrous  nations.  But  this  is 
exactly  the  province  of  the  whole  moral  law,  and  this 
is  the  effect  which  it  is  calculated  to  produce.  "  Now, 
these  are  the  commandments,  the  statutes,  and  the 
judgments,  which  the  Lord  your  God  has  taught  you; 
therefore,  shall  ye  lay  up  these  my  words  in  your 
heart,  and  in  your  soul;  and  bind  them  for  a  sign 
upon  your  hand,  that  they  may  be  as  frontlets  between 
your  eyes.    And  ye  shall  teach  them  to  your  children, 


•  Exod.  xxxi.  13. 


285 

speaking  of  them,  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house, 
and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way — when  thou  liest 
dov/n,  and  when  thou  risest  up."  * 

It  is  certainly  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  character 
here  given  to  the  whole  of  the  divine  statutes  and 
ordinances,  is  exactly  the  same  which  we  find  respect- 
ing the  celebration  of  the  day  on  which  the  Hebrews 
were  brought  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  "  Moses 
said  unto  the  people — Remember  this  day,  in  which 
ye  came  out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage. 
Seven  days  shalt  thou  eat  unleavened  bread;  and  in 
the  seventh  shall  be  a  feast  to  the  Lord.  And  thou 
shalt  show  this  to  thy  son  in  that  day,  saying.  This  is 
done,  because  of  that  which  the  Lord  did  unto  me 
when  I  came  forth  out  of  Egypt.  And  it  shall  be  for 
a  sign  unto  thee  upon  thine  hand,  and  for  a  memorial 
between  thine  eyes;  that  the  Lord's  law  may  be  in 
thy  mouth;  for,  with  a  strong  hand  hath  the  Lord 
brought  thee  out  of  Egypt."  f 

These  quotations,  we  trust,  will  satisfy  every  atten- 
tive reader  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  that  the  sanctions 
belonging  to  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  are  iden- 
tical, in  form  and  character,  with  those  which  are 
attached  to  the  whole  of  the  statutes,  and  judgments, 
and  laws,  dispensed  by  the  Almighty  to  the  Hebrews; 
and  that  the  objection  which  has  been  urged  against 
the  universal  moral  obligation  of  that  institution,  from 
the  words  above  cited,  is  founded  on  misinterpretation 
and  error. 

It   is  further   objected,   by  Dr.   Paley,   however, 


*   Deut.  chapters  iv.  vi.  and  xi. 
I  Compare  Exod.  xiii.  with  Levit.  xxiii. 


S86 

that  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  obh'gatory 
on  Christians,  because  it  is  not  one  of  the  articles 
enjoined  by  the  apostles,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
"  The  Acts,"  on  those,  who,  from  among  the  Gentiles, 
were  turned  unto  God.  We  may  shortly  answer,  that 
this  objection  is  founded  upon  the  palpable  mistake, 
of  considering  the  Sabbath  to  be  a  mere  Jewish  insti- 
tution, which  had  derived  all  its  obligation  from  the 
Mosaic  law.  The  apostolical  council,  held  as  above, 
was  summoned,  exclusively,  to  consider  the  doctrine 
taught  by  those  of  Judea — that,  except  the  Gentiles 
were  circumcised,  and  kept  the  Levitical  law,  they 
could  not  be  saved.  Now,  as  it  was  only  to  determine 
whether  the  Gentile  converts  were  bound  to  observe 
any  part  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  that  the  council  met; 
it  was  quite  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  their  meeting,  to 
take  into  consideration  any  point  not  essentially  con- 
nected with  that  ritual.  And  the  particular  mention 
of  fornication,  in  this  special  decree,  can  only  be 
accounted  for  on  this  ground, — that,  among  the 
Heathens,  abstinence  on  that  point,  was  considered  a 
peculiarity  of  Judaism;  and,  had  it  not  been  specified 
in  the  above  decree,  it  is  not  probable,  that  the 
Gentiles  who  embraced  Christianity,  would  have  dis- 
covered that  its  indulgence  was  prohibited  as  a  crime, 
by  the  seventh  commandment. 

Nor  do  we  think  the  objection  derived  from  Paul's 
injunction  to  the  Colossians,  rests  on  more  tenable 
grounds,  *'  Let  no  man  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in 
drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holiday,  or  of  the  new 
moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days,  which  are  a  shadow 
of  things  to  come;  but  the  body  is  of  Christ."  ♦ 

♦  Col.  ii.  16,  17. 


287 

It  certainly  was  incumbent  on  Dr.  Paley,  for  estab- 
lishing his  view  of  the  subject,  to  have  adduced  some 
proof  that  this  passage  was  tantamount  to  an  abroga- 
tion of  the  sanctions  of  the  weekly  Sabbath;  and,  by 
passing  from  the  subject  with  a  simple  assertion,  he 
has  left  room  to  doubt,  if  he  considered  it  possible  to 
have  done  so.  For  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  have 
any  scruples  about  this  passage,  we  shall  make  a  few 
observations. 

It  cannot  fail  to  be  noticed,  that,  in  the  chapter 
from  which  the  above  quotation  is  made,  the  apostle 
is  particularly  warning  the  Colossians  against  the 
errors  and  superstitions  which  artful  and  corrupt  men 
endeavoured  to  intermingle  with  the  pure  and  simple 
precepts  of  the  Gospel.  Teachers  from  the  schools 
of  heathen  philosophy,  and  advocates  for  the  showy, 
but  abrogated  ceremonies  of  the  Jewish  law,  had 
appeared  among  them;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
that  the  self-sufficient  righteousness,  which  was  incul- 
cated with  the  ritual  services  of  the  one  party,  and 
the  boastful  pretensions  to  knowledge  and  wisdom, 
which  were  insinuated  with  tbe  philosophical  instruc- 
tions of  the  other,  had  alienated  their  minds  from  the 
spiritual  principles  of  Christianity,  and  subverted,  in 
their  estimation,  the  sanctions  of  its  requirements  and 
laws.  "  Beware,  therefore,"  says  the  apostle,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  latter,  "  lest  any  man  spoil  you,  through 
philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men, 
after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after 
Christ."  And,  in  reference  to  the  former,  he  adds, 
**  Let  no  man  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in 
respect  of  an  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the 
Sabbath  days." 

Now,  we  know  that  the  term  Sabbath  is  used,  ia 


288 

some  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  for  all  the  Jewish  festivals 
indiscriminately — the  Passover — the  feast  of  Taber- 
nacles— the  year  of  Release,  &c and  of  this,  our 

readers  may  fully  satisfy  themselves,  by  turning  to  the 
book  of  Leviticus,  xix.  3.  and  30.  xxiii.  23.  to  the 
end,  and  Ezek.  xx.  12 — 20.  We  have  already  shown, 
that  the  observance  of  the  seventh-day  Sabbath,  was 
not  included  under  the  hand-writing  of  ordinances, 
which  Christ,  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  took 
.out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  his  cross;  and,  therefore, 
we  might  justly  conclude,  that  the  passage  before  us, 
cannot  be  understood  as  containing  an  abrogation  of 
the  sanctions  of  that  holy  day,  under  the  Christian 
dispensation.  But,  even  granting  all  that  our  opponents 
contend  for — that  it  does  relate  to  the  weekly  Sabbath, 
the  same  inference  may  be  fairly  deduced  from  an 
impartial  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case. 

At  the  time  the  apostle  wrote,  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  virtually  abolished,  and  the  day  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  Saviour  from  the  grave,  substituted  in  its  stead. 
It  was  no  longer  the  seventh,  but  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  which  the  converts  to  Christianity  were  enjoined 
to  remember  to  keep  holy.  In  passing,  however,  from 
the  observance  of  one  day  to  that  of  another,  very 
considerable  doubts  and  difficulties  might  exist  in  the 
minds  of  many  of  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel;  and  of 
these,  we  are  fully  persuaded,  the  enemies  of  the 
truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  took  every  advantage.  The 
prejudices  of  the  Jewish  converts,  in  favour  of  their 
ancient  legal  forms  and  ceremonies,  were  exceedingly 
deep-rooted  and  strong;  and,  in  some  cases,  it  seems 
to  have  been  nearly  impossible  to  withdraw  them  from 
the  observance  of  particular  days,  and  the  celebration 


289 

of  certain  rites,  which  they  conceived  to  possess  a 
peculiar  sanctity,  and  to  which  they  had  attached  a 
great  many  weighty  and  sacred  obhgations.  The 
same  prejudices  seem  to  have  been  imbibed  by  many 
of  the  Gentiles;  and,  on  this  account,  we  find  the 
apostle,  in  condescension  to  the  weakness  of  their 
faith,  and  the  scrupulosity  of  their  judgment,  recom- 
mending to  the  church,  forbearance  and  silence 
respecting  the  external  forms  and  ceremonies  of 
religion.  "  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith,  receive  ye, 
but  not  to  doubtful  disputations,"  &c.  See  Romans 
xiv.  1—7. 

The  Christian  community  was  still  in  an  infant 
state.  The  Gospel  was  not  acknowledged  or  embraced 
by  any  of  the  rulers  of  this  world;  neither  was  there 
any  legal  provision  for  the  observance  of  its  ordi- 
nances in  any  nation.  The  commemoration  of  the 
day  of  the  resurrection,  the  sanctification  of  the 
Lord's  Day,  was  thus  left  to  the  private  judgment  of 
individuals;  and  their  conviction  of  the  reasonableness 
of  the  institution,  and  of  the  divine  sanctions  belonging 
to  its  duties,  furnished  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  its 
observance.  But  there  were  many  situations  in  which 
these  sanctions  were  not  felt,  A  spirit  of  Judaism 
was  widely  spread  among  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel, 
and  serious  attempts  were  made  to  revive  the  obser- 
vance of  its  abrogated  rites  and  prescriptions.  To 
avoid,  therefore,  all  unseemly  and  hurtful  controversy, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  unanimity  and 
harmony  of  opinion,  between  such  as  regarded  the 
solemnization  of  external  rites  as  a  matter  of  con- 
science, and  believed  that  they  possessed  the  obligation 
of  divine  precepts,  and  those,  who,  farther  advanced 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  the 
B    b 


S90 

Gospel,  conceived  themselves  warranted  to  dispense 
with  their  observance; — Paul  reasons  thus, — One  man 
esteemeth  one  day  above  another — another  esteemeth 
every  day  alike.  On  this  point,  however,  let  every 
man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind;  i,  e.  let 
every  man  have  a  clear  and  distinct  conviction,  that 
he  is  acting  conscientiously  in  these  matters,  as  in  the 
sight,  and  under  the  fear  of  God.  The  Christian  law 
is  the  law  of  liberty,  and,  in  the  discharge  of  all  its 
duties,  and  the  observance  of  all  its  ordinances,  we 
are  not  to  take  the  measure  of  our  obedience  from 
the  letter  of  the  Jewish  law,  or  from  the  rigour  of 
Jewish  superstition.  Our  holy  days  are  to  be  observed 
in  worshipping  God,  by  offering  to  him  the  bloodless 
sacrifices  of  our  supplications  and  prayers.  Our  new 
moons  are  to  be  held,  by  proclaiming  his  goodness  and 
mercy,  not  with  the  blowing  of  trumpets,  but  with 
the  praises  of  the  heart  and  the  understanding.  Our 
Sabbaths,  in  a  word,  are  the  pledges  of  that  rest 
which  awaits  the  faithful,  when  the  toils  and  miseries 
of  this  fleeting  life  are  passed;  and,  having  our  faces, 
like  the  spiritual  Israel,  heavenward,  we  should  now 
be  attuning  the  affections  of  our  souls,  to  celebrate 
the  sufferings  and  the  triumphs  of  Him  who  died  for 
us  and  rose  again.  As,  therefore,  we  have  received 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  let  us  walk  in  him. 


Note  Ti.—Page  188.> 

"  If  lawful  work  and  labour  must  not  be  followed 
on  this  day,  as  on  the  six  days  of  the  week,  there  is 


291 

much  more  reason  for  all  sports  and  bodily  diversions 
to  be  laid  aside.  Because,  the  design  of  God's  sepa- 
rating this  day  from  others,  is  more  perverted  and 
contradicted,  and  more  hurt  is  done  to  religion,  by 
such  a  loose  and  sensual  way  of  spending  time,  than 
by  regular  labour.  The  more  men  give  up  themselves 
to  bodily  pleasures  and  recreations,  the  less  relish 
will  the  soul  have  for  spiritual  and  eternal  things. 
Diversions  make  the  spirit  trifling  and  unfixed,  and 
give  the  flesh  advantage,  to  profane  and  pollute  the 
mind;  and  they  set  the  heart  against  that  reverence 
and  seriousness  which  become  a  creature  doing 
homage  to  its  Maker,  and  seeking  the  most  important 
blessings  from  him. 

"  That  saying  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  must,  therefore, 
be  applied  to  the  day  of  God's  rest  in  general,  and 
not  merely  to  the  Jewish  way  of  keeping  their  Sab- 
baths, when  he  says,  '  Not  doing  thine  own  ways,  nor 
finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own 
words.'  The  plain  reason  of  the  thing  makes  this 
injunction  perpetually  binding.  Hence  it  is,  that 
such  as  would  make  our  observation  of  a  Sabbath,  as 
Christians,  to  be  only  a  human  appointment  and 
constitution,  yet  have  declared  against  all  plays,  and 
sports,  and  vain  feasting,  and  drinking,  and  loose 
wanton  conversation  on  this  day.  Since  it  is  a  day 
intended  to  prepare  men  for  their  heavenly  rest,  it 
must  appear,  to  common  reason,  exceedingly  incon- 
sistent and  disagreeable  for  any  to  give  up  themselves 
to  sensual  frolics  and  entertainments.  *  Such  is  the 
reverence,'  says  one,  •  due  to  the  public  exercises  of 
devotion,  that  they  require,  not  only  a  ceasing  from 
other  works  and  thoughts,  for  the  time  of  the  perform- 
ance, but  also  a  decent  preparation  beforehand,  that 
B  b  2 


292 

so  our  thoughts  and  affections,  which  are  naturally 
bent  upon  the  world,  and  not  easily  withdrawn  from 
it,  may  be  raised  to  a  disposition  befitting  such  sacred 
employments.*  And  the  same  may  be  said  for  men's 
retirement,  and  recollection  of  things  afterwards.  I 
find  a  remarkable  passage  quoted  by  another  writer, 
from  Bishop  Andrews,  on  this  head.  *  To  keep  the 
Sabbath  in  an  idle  manner,'  he  says,  '  is  the  Sabbath 
of  oxen  and  asses :  to  keep  the  Sabbath  in  a  jocular 
manner,  to  see  plays  and  sights,  or  be  taken  up  in 
vain  discourses  and  conversations,  is  the  Sabbath  of 
the  golden  calf:  but,  to  keep  the  Sabbath  in  surfeiting 
and  drunkenness,  in  chambering  and  wantonness,  this 
is  the  Sabbath  of  Satan,  the  devil's  holiday.'  " 

Book  of  Universal  Prayer, 


Note  E Page  213. 

The  frightful  aspect,  which  the  political  events  of 
our  country  bore  in  1819 — 20,  are  here  more  imme- 
diately referred  to,  and  they  must  still  be  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  all  our  readers. 

In  the  manufacturing  districts  particularly,  great 
privations  and  suffering  were  endured,  from  the 
general  stagnation  of  trade,  and  the  consequent  low 
rate  of  wages.  It  is  matter  of  notoriety,  that  the 
labouring  classes  of  men,  in  every  country,  are 
exceedingly  prone  to  ascribe  all  public  distress  to  the 
ignorance,  oppression,  or  injustice  of  their  rulers;  and 
they  are  thus  very  easily  led  to  believe,  that  a  change 
of  government  will  bring  about  a  change  in  their 


293 

circumstances,  and  relieve  them  from  all  their  evils. 
Factious  and  designing  men,  who  are  ever  watchful  to 
take  advantage  of  national  calamities,  have  here  the 
most  dangerous  materials  prepared  for  their  use;  and 
at  the  above  period,  they  succeeded,  to  an  alarming 
extent,  in  engendering  a  deep,  and,  in  many  cases, 
malignant  spirit  of  disaffection  toward  the  legal  and 
established  authorities  of  the  country.  Poverty  was 
extensively  spread  among  the  whole  of  the  mercantile 
population;  and,  instead  of  alleviating  its  pressure  by 
the  consolations  of  religion,  and  striving  to  remove  it 
by  the  reformation  of  those  habits  of  profusion  and 
licentiousness,  which  had  unhappily  become  very 
general  among  them,  they  madly  inveighed  against  the 
profligacy  and  tyranny  of  their  rulers,  and  unpro- 
fitably  spent  their  time  in  cabals  and  plots  for  their 
overthrow. 

We  mean  not  to  say,  that  this  character  applied  to 
the  whole  of  our  suffering  population  at  the  above 
period;  but,  certainly,  very  large  numbers,  in  different 
districts,  were  so  deeply  tainted  with  disloyal  and 
demoralizing  principles,  that  His  Majesty's  ministers 
considered  themselves  justified  in  adopting  such 
measures  of  security,  as  had  formerly  been  deemed 
necessary  only  when  a  foreign  enemy  threatened  to 
co-operate  with  the  disaffected  at  home.  It  was 
remarked  and  deplored,  as  a  fatal  symptom  in  the 
character  of  the  discontented,  that  infidelity  in  reli- 
gion was  the  concomitant,  or  rather  the  forerunner  of 
disloyalty  of  political  principle;  and  that  all  regard 
for  the  authority  of  God,  appeared  to  be  renounced 
at  the  time  they  began  to  conspire  against  the  autho- 
rity of  man.     The   Sabbath  was  profaned  by  many 

Bba 


who  bad  formerly  found  their  chief  happiness  to  con- 
sist in  observing  it,  "  to  keep  it  holy."  The  church, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  was  deserted — the  ministers  of 
religion  were  despised  or  insulted — and  the  hours 
which  had  lately  been  consecrated  to  the  duties  of 
public  devotion  and  prayer,  were  devoted  to  secret 
disorderly  meetings,  the  leading  object  of  which  was, 
to  encourage  one  another  in  profaneness  and  crime. 
Even  in  some  of  the  quiet  and  sequestered  districts 
of  Scotland,  this  fearful  sign  of  the  times,  was  noticed 
to  exist  in  an  alarming  degree;  and  in  some  of  the 
populous  manufacturing  towns,  it  created  most  uneasy 
apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  the  religious  and  orderly 
part  of  the  community. 

In  England,  it  was  observed  to  wear  a  still  more 
malignant  aspect ;  and,  assuredly,  the  savage  and 
monstrous  designs  of  the  Cato-Street  conspirators, 
could  only  have  originated  in  an  utter  rejection  of  all 
religious  principle,  and  an  utter  contempt  of  all 
authority,  divine  and  human.  It  was  said,  that  the 
machinati<?ns  of  this  gang,  had  abettors  in  various 
parts  of  t  y  country:  but,  as  the  authority  on  which 
the  assertion  rested,  was  doubtful,  we  hope,  for  the 
honour  of  the  national  character,  that  they  were 
strictly  confined  to  the  wretches  who  were  seized  and 
suffered.  The  object  of  the  conspirators,  was  the 
extirpation  of  the  whole  of  the  Cabinet  Ministers, 
whom  they  expected  to  find  met  at  a  cabinet  dinner; 
and  nothing  can  mark  more  strongly  the  depraved 
and  impious  state  of  mind  to  which  they  had  sunk, 
than  the  exclamation  of  one  of  them,  on  receiving 
the  tidings  that  the  meeting  was  fixed:  "  I'll  be 
hanged,  if  I  don't  believe  now  that  there  is  a  God. 


S95 

I  have  often  prayed,  that  these  thieves  might  be 
brought  together,  in  order  that  they  might  be  de- 
stroyed together :  and  now  God  has  answered  my 
prayer."  The  ruffians,  with  one  exception,  were  all 
of  the  lowest  grade  in  society,  ignorant  and  brutal  in 
their  habits,  and  total  strangers  to  the  fear  of  God, 
and  the  knowledge  and  obedience  of  his  laws. 

Other  instances  of  gross  profaneness  and  depravity, 
might  be  easily  adduced  to  substantiate  the  statement 
we  made  above,  **  that  apostacy  from  God  is  generally 
followed  with  dishonesty  and  disloyalty  to  man,  and 
that  he  who  cares  not  for  the  torments  of  that  place, 
where  the  worm  never  dies,  is  not  very  likely  to  be 
shaken  in  his  purposes  of  guilt  and  atrocity,  by  the 
fear  of  an  earthly  tribunal,  or  the  axe  of  an  earthly 
executioner:"  but  such  must  be  familiar  to  the  minds 
of  our  readers,  and  they  are  unfortunately  too  frequent 
to  require  illustration. 

"  How  amazingly  has  the  contempt  of  the  Sabbath 
perverted  the  thoughts  and  tempers  of  men,  and 
corrupted  their  manners?  Many  are,  by  this  very 
thing,  led  to  Deism,  and  to  dispute  against  all  revealed 
religion,  that  they  may  set  aside  the  obligations  of 
this  day." — "  Others  fall  into  a  solitariness  and  sullen- 
ness  of  spirit,  by  forsaking  the  assemblies  of  this  day: 
and  are  fit  for  no  society,  nor  for  any  useful  parts  of 
life." — "  Factious  meetings,  and  assignations,  and 
intrigues,  that  disorder  states  and  families,  often  arise 
from  the  neglect  of  the  religion  of  this  day.  For,  the 
better  good  men  are  employed,  the  worse,  generally, 
are  the  impious  and  vicious  men  employing  them- 
selves." 

"  Frequent  are  the  acknowledgments  of  condemned 
malefactors,  that  their  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day, 


296 

led  them  to  those  courses,  which  brought  them  to  an 
untimely  and  infamous  death."  * 

Now,  does  not  all  this  most  clearly  show,  that, 
without  sound  religious  principle  actuating  all  classes 
of  society,  there  cannot  be  any  solid  hope,  that  its 
transactions  will  go  on  steadily  for  the  advancement 
of  the  general  good?  All  ranks  are  imperatively 
called  on,  devoutly  to  imbibe  and  practise  it,  as 
what  alone  can  infuse  moral  energy  and  purity  into 
the  actions  of  man,  even  though  contemplated  only 
as  an  inhabitant  of  this  earth.  It  restrains  him  from 
tumult,  disorder,  and  crime:  but  it  does  not  teach 
him  to  submit  to  oppression,  injustice,  or  cruelty. 
It  renders  him  meek,  without  being  dastardly  ;  and 
humble,  without  being  abject. 

To  the  needy  and  the  destitute,  to  whom  it  was 
first  preached,  the  Gospel,  with  all  its  ordinances 
and  doctrines,  and  duties,  comes  with  a  peculiarly 
happy  effect — sweetening  the  bitter  cup  of  disappoint- 
ment, which  they  are  often  made  to  drink — alleviating 
their  sorrows,  and  giving  excitement  to  their  hopes 
and  their  exertions,  by  teaching  them,  that  *'  the  light 
afflictions  of  this  life  last  but  for  a  moment,  while,  to 
all  who  are  properly  exercised  under  them,  they 
work  out  a  far  more  exceeding,  even  an  eternal  weight 
of  glory." 

A  poor  man,  who  is  at  the  same  time  profane — who 
has  no  stay  in  heaven  or  in  earth — who  is  oppressed 
with  worldly  sufferings,  and  is  only  breathing  impiety 
over  them,  is  one  of  the  most  melancholy  and 
monstrous  spectacles  which  the  human  mind  can 
contemplate. 


*  Anon. 


297 


Note  F.—Page  214. 

It  has  been  observed  with  much  alarm,  by  every 
friend  to  the  religious  and  moral  interests  of  his 
country,  that  instances  of  youthful  depravity  and 
vice,  have  increased  frightfully  of  late  years,  both  in 
number  and  character:  and  this,  we  are  happy  in 
being  able  to  state,  has  given  increased  activity  and 
ardour,  to  the  plans  adopted  for  rescuing  the  rising 
generation  from  the  ignorance  in  vi'hich  their  crimes 
originated.  The  history  of  many  juvenile  delinquents, 
has  abundantly  proved,  that  the  profanation  of  the 
Lord's  Day,  was  the  first  step  which  they  took  iii  the 
ways  of  iniquity.  And  they  themselves  have  often 
confessed,  that  on  it,  they  concerted  and  executed 
the  most  heinous  of  those  criminal  acts,  which  con- 
ducted them  to  pubhc  infamy  and  death. 

The  negligence  and  the  vices  of  parents,  are 
undoubtedly  the  principal  cause  to  which  the  crimes 
of  the  young  are  to  be  ascribed;  and,  in  proof  of  this, 
we  shall  select  one  out  of  a  thousand  examples,  that 
might  be  quoted.  The  father  of  a  boy,  (about  eleven 
years  of  age,)  charged  with  housebreaking  and  theft, 
was  called  to  one  of  the  public  offices,  and  asked  by 
the  magistrate,  "  If  ever  he  had  sent  his  son  to 
school  ?  He  answered — he  never  had.  Had  he  ever 
taken  him  to  church?  No.  Ever  read  the  Bible  to 
him?  No.  Ever  taught  him  the  principles  of 
morality?  No." — It  has  frequently  appeared  from 
evidence,  given  in  courts  of  justice,  that  the  youthful 
criminals  have  not  merely  been  left  ignorant,  by  their 
natural  guardians,  of  their  duty  to  God  and  man;  but 


S98 

instructed  and  trained  by  them,  in  the  most  expert 
ways  of  violating  the  laws  of  both. 

Now,  in  times  of  comparative  prosperity,  there  may 
not  be  great  or  serious  evil  apprehended  from  the 
machinations  of  such  persons :  but,  if  we  should  ever 
be  visited  with  poverty  and  public  distress,  these  are 
the  turbulent  spirits — the  future  ruffians,  who  are  to 
take  the  lead  in  the  march  of  tumult;  and  to  plunder 
the  possessions,  and  shed  the  blood  of  the  best  of  our 
citizens,  and  to  spread  anarchy  and  desolation  through 
all  the  borders  of  the  land. 

"  Were  I  to  collect,  into  one  picture,  all  the  baneful 
and  lamentable  effects,  which  the  immoral  or  perverted 
education  of  the  young,  has  spread  over  the  character 
both  of  individuals  and  of  society,  I  might  startle  you 
with  the  most  frightful  images  of  human  depravity; 
and  harrow  up  the  stoutest  feelings  of  your  heart, 
with  an  unvarnished  tale  of  human  wretchedness  and 
suffering.  Were  I  to  lead  you  to  some  of  the  numerous 
haunts  of  ignorance  and  profligacy,  which  are,  unfor- 
tunately, to  be  found  in  every  town,  and  exhibit  to 
you,  a  group  of  youthful  servants  of  iniquity,  inhaling, 
from  the  spirits  and  the  sentiments  of  their  guardians, 
the  feelings,  the  language,  and  the  habits  of  impiety  ; 
I  might  awaken  your  horror,  and  perhaps  overwhelm 
your  sensibility,  but  I  would  not  be  overrating  the 
amount  of  human  transgression,  or  exaggerating  the 
causes  of  its  extension  and  growth. 

'*  Consult  the  records  of  the  condemned,  and  yOu 
will  find,  that,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  their  ignorance 
of  religious  duty,  was  the  foundation  of  their  immorali- 
ties, and  that  their  profanation  of  the  ordinances  of 
Heaven,  prepared  them  for  the  violation  of  the  laws 
of  men.    Look  into  the  history  of  a  youthful  profligate, 


299 

and  you  will  soon  be  convinced,  that  his  licentiousness 
has  been  the  offspring  of  his  unrestrained  passions, 
and  that  his  entrance  on  that  career  which  is  leading 
him  to  disgrace  and  perdition,  may  be  dated  from 
the  time  that  he  renounced  the  authority  of  God, 
and  conquered  the  fears  which  the  revelation  of  his 
wrath  inspires.  Nay,  examine  the  crowds  of  youthful 
criminals,  who  infest  the  streets  and  alleys  of  our 
towns,  and  who  are  every  day  growing  riper  in 
depravity  and  impenitence;  and  you  will  find,  that, 
for  the  most  part,  their  hardihood  in  sin,  is  equalled 
only  by  their  ignorance  of  its  guilt;  and  that,  even 
in  the  most  melancholy  stages  of  their  wickedness, 
they  are  the  victims  of  the  circumstances  in  vhich 
they  are  reared  and  educated,"  &c.  &c.  &c. —  Vide 
'  Sermon  on  the  Obligations  of  training  up  the  Young 
in  the  voay  they  should  gOy    by  the  Author. 


Note  G Page  260. 

At  the  accession  of  his  present  Majesty  to  the 
throne,  there  was  ordered  to  be  read,  from  all  the 
pulpits  of  the  Established  Church,  a  Royal  Proclama- 
tion, the  injunctions  and  requirements  of  which,  gave 
every  good  man  the  highest  pleasure;  because,  the 
effects  of  their  publication  were  expected  to  prove, 
in  the  highest  degree,  beneficial.  The  pleasure, 
however,  which  was  thus  excited,  was  but  of  short 
continuance,  for  the  expectations  on  which  it  rested, 
were  soon  totally  overthrown.  The  document  in  ques- 
tion,   completely   failed    in   forwarding    the    objects 


300 

recommended;  and  no  small  anxiety  has  been  expressed 
to  ascertain  the  cause. 

Why,  we  have  heard  it  asked,  have  the  pious 
wishes  of  our  Sovereign  not  been  attended  to,  at  the 
commencement  of  his  auspicious  reign?  Why  have 
his  exertions  to  suppress  all  vice,  profaneness,  de- 
bauchery, and  immorality,  which  are  so  highly 
displeasing  to  God,  and  so  great  a  reproach  to  religion 
and  good  government,  not  been  seconded  by  all 
classes  of  his  subjects ;  and  his  commands,  that  they 
manifest  "  a  religious  observance  of  God's  holy  laws," 
not  been  enforced  by  all  the  officers  of  state,  and 
magistrates  throughout  the  country?  In  the  accom- 
plishment of  so  laudable  a  design,  as  that  of  "  preserving 
and  advancing  the  service  of  Almighty  God,  and  of 
discouraging  and  suppressing  all  vice  and  profane- 
ness," we  might  well  expect  to  have  found  all  ranks 
in  the  land,  zealously  co-operating,  that  they  might 
promote  the  happiness  of  the  monarch,  by  securing 
for  his  person  and  government,  the  protection  and 
blessing  of  the  Most  High. 

But  let  us  hear  the  terms  of  the  Proclamation  itself, 
that  we  may  be  able  rightly  to  estimate  the  culpability 
of  its  neglect — "  To  the  intent,  that  Religion,  Piety, 
and  Good  Manners,  may,  (according  to  Our  most 
hearty  desire,)  flourish  and  increase  under  Our 
Administration  and  Government,  We  have  thought 
fit,  by  the  advice  of  Our  Privy  Council,  to  issue  this 
Our  Royal  Proclamation;  and  do  hereby  declare  Our 
Royal  Purpose  and  Resolution,  to  discountenance  and 
punish  all  manner  of  vice,  profaneness,  and  immora- 
lity, in  all  Persons,  of  whatsoever  Degree  or  Quality, 
within  this  Our  Realm,  and  particularly  in  such  as  are 
employed  near  our  Royal  Person :  and  that,  for  the 


301 

Encouragement  of  Religion  and  Morality,  We  will, 
upon  all  occasions,  distinguish  Persons  of  Piety  and 

Virtue,  by  marks  of  our  Royal  Favour 

And  We  do  hereby  strictly  enjoin  and  prohibit 

all  Our  loving  subjects,  of  what  Degree  or  Quality 
soever,  from  playing,  on  the  Lord's  Day,  at  Dice, 
Cards,  or  any  other  Game  whatsoever,  either  in  Public 
or  Private  Houses,  or  other  Place  or  Places,  whatso- 
ever;— And  We  do  hereby  require  and  command 
them,  and  every  of  them,  decently  and  reverently  to 
attend  the  Worship  of  God,  on  every  Lord's  Day,  on 
pain  of  Our  highest  Displeasure,  and  of  being  pro- 
ceeded against  with  the  utmost  Rigour  that  may  be 
by  Law.  And,  for  the  more  effectual  reforming  all 
such  persons,  who,  by  reason  of  their  Dissolute  lives 
and  conversations,  are  a  Scandal  to  Our  Kingdom, — 
Our  further  Pleasure  is,  and  We  do  hereby  strictly 
charge  and  command  all  Our  Judges,  Mayoi^,  Sheriffs, 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  all  other  our  Officers  and 
Ministers,  both  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil,  and  all  other 
Our  Subjects,  whom  it  may  concern,  to  be  very  vigi- 
lant and  strict  in  the  discovery,  and  effectual  Prose- 
cution and  Punishment  of  all  Persons  who  shall  be 
guilty  of  excessive  Drinking,  Blasphemy,  Profane 
Swearing  and  Cursing,  Lewdness,  and  Profanation  of 

the  Lord's  Day And  that  they  take  care  to 

put  in  Execution  the  Statute,  made  in  the  Twenty- 
ninth  year  of  the  Reign  of  King  Charles  the  Second, 
intituled  An  Act  for  the  better  observation  of  the 
LoriTs  Day^  commonly  called  Sunday;  and  also,  so 
much  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  made  in  the  Ninth 
year  of  the  Reign  of  King  William  the  Third,  intituled 
An  Act  for  the  more  effectual  suppressing  of  Blasphemy 
and  Prqfaneness,  as  is  now  in  force;  and  all  other 

c  c 


302 

Laws,  now  in  force,  for  the  punishing  and  suppressing 

any  of  the  vices  aforesaid And  for  the  more 

effectual  proceeding  herein — We  do  hereby  direct  and 
coramand  all  Our  Judges  of  Assize,  and  Justices  of 
the  Peace,  to  give  strict  Charges,  at  their  respective 
Assizes  and  Sessions,  for  the  due  Prosecution  and 
Punishment  of  all  Persons  that  shall  presume  to  offend 
in  any  of  the  kinds  aforesaid: — And  that  they  do,  at 
their  respective  Assizes  and  Quarter  Sessions  of  the 
Peace,  cause  this  Our  Royal  Proclamation  to  be 
publicly  read  in  open  Court,  immediately  before  the 
Charge  is  given.  And  We  do  hereby  further  charge 
and  command  every  Minister,  in  his  respective  Church 
or  Chapel,  to  read,  or  cause  to  be  read,  this  Our  Royal 
Proclamation,  at  least  four  times  every  year^  imme- 
diately after  Divine  Service,  and  to  incite  and  stir  up 
their  respective  Auditories  to  the  Practice  of  Piety 
and  Virtue,  and  the  avoiding  of  all  Immorality  and 
Profaneness." 

Now,  we  are  persuaded,  there  is  not  an  individual 
in  the  country,  who  is  not  satisfied,  that  all,  or  nearly 
all,  the  injunctions  and  prohibitions  of  this  important 
document,  have  been  grossly  neglected  and  despised. 
Has  any  minister,  we  would  ask,  in  either  end  of  the 
island,  been  careful  to  read,  or  cause  it  to  be  read,  in 
his  respective  church  or  chapel,  at  least  four  times 
every  year,  immediately  after  divine  service;  and 
thereby  taken  an  opportunity  to  awaken  his  audience 
to  an  abhorrence  of  all  iniquity,  and  to  stir  them  up 
to  the  love  and  practice  of  piety  and  virtue?  The 
moral  and  spiritual  good,  that  might  be  produced,  by 
a  judicious  representation  of  the  temporal,  as  well  as 
eternal  punishments  which  await  transgressors  of  the 
divine  law,  is  incalculable.      The  virtuous  would  be 


303 

encouraged  in  the  way  of  holiness,  and  the  wicked 
would  be  restrained  in  the  career  of  iniquity,  by  con- 
siderations  which  immediately,  as  well  as  remotely, 
affected  their  highest  interests.  But  the  opportunities 
of  doing  good,  thus  opened  up,  have  been  allowed  to 
pass  unnoticed — the  command,  to  perform  a  pious  and 
patriotic  duty,  has  been  disregarded — the  gracious 
intentions  of  the  Sovereign  have  been  overlooked — 
and  after  being  once,  and  only  once,  read  throughout 
the  churches  and  chapels  of  the  country,  the  proclama- 
tion in  question  was  thrown  aside  as  waste  paper. 

That  there  must  be  a  cause  for  this  apparently 
strange  conduct,  is  unquestionable;  what  that  cause 
is,  the  sequel  of  this  Note  may  explain. 

The  matter,  however,  does  not  rest  here.  In 
another,  and  an  equally  important  quarter,  the  salutary 
and  pious  designs  of  the  Sovereign,  were  defeated  by 
the  negligence  of  those  to  whom  the  care  of  carrying 
them  into  execution  was  entrusted.  **  For  the  more 
effectual  proceeding  herein,"  /.  e,  for  the  suppressing 
all  vice  and  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day — the  Pro- 
clamation runs  thus — "  We  do  hereby  direct  and 
command  all  our  Judges  of  Assize,  and  Justices  of 
the  Peace,  at  their  respective  Assizes  and  Quarter 
Sessions  of  the  Peace,  to  cause  this  Our  Royal  Pro- 
clamation to  be  publicly  read  in  open  Court,  imme- 
diately before  the  Charge  is  given." 

Now,  where  can  we  point  to  any  auxiliary  arrange- 
ment more  wisely  adapted  than  this,  to  further  the 
ends  of  justice,   and  prevent  the   growth  of  crime? 

The  authority  and  dignity  of  the  presiding  judges 

the  solemnity  of  the  proceedings — and  the  character 

of  the  audience,   all   conspire   to  give  effect  to  the 

encouragements  of  virtue,  and  the  prohibitions   and 

C   C   2 


304 

penalties  of  vice,  on  the  human  mind.  The  delibera- 
tions and  trials  which  are  there  carried  on,  relate  to 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
society,  and  the  suppression  of  those  offences  and 
crimes  which  infringe  the  moral  and  political  interests 
of  men.  The  culprits  are  generally  overawed  by  the 
insignia  of  justice  which  surround  them,  and  softened 
into  contrition  by  the  public  proofs  of  their  guilt,  or 
the  secret  upbraidings  of  their  own  conscience. 
Spectators  are  prepared  to  applaud  the  triumphs  of 
virtue,  and  to  concur  in  the  punishment  of  vice.  The 
laws  of  God  and  of  man,  appear  to  have  attained 
nearly  an  undivided  rule  in  the  hearts  of  all  present. 
The  era  of  the  reign  of  truth  and  justice,  and  of  the 
downfal  of  error  and  crime,  seems  to  have  arrived! 
What  a  propitious  season,  then,  for  inculcating  the 
wholesome  admonitions  and  commands  of  a  virtuous 
and  pious  Prince!  and  what  a  glorious  opportunity 
for  a  judge,  skilled  in  the  workings  of  the  human 
passions,  to  bring  home,  with  resistless  energy,  to 
men's  business  and  bosoms,  the  fatal  tendency  of  the 
corruption  of  manners,  and  the  profanation  of  sacred 
things;  and  to  recommend  and  enforce,  with  all  the 
charms  of  royal  solicitude  and  tenderness,  the  motives 
and  obligations  to  the  observance  of  all  God's  holy 
laws ! 

Yet,  in  utter  disregard  of  the  express  command  of 
the  Monarch,  all  this  has  been  neglected,  and  the  Pro- 
clamation in  question,  is  a  dead  letter  in  every  Court  of 
Assize  and  Quarter  Sessions  of  our  country.  Will  it 
be  argued,  that  the  publication  of  such  an  edict  is  a 
mere  form,  and  that  the  reading  of  it  would  only 
waste  the  time  of  the  court,  without  promoting  the 
ends   of  public  justice   and  morality.'^      We   might 


305 

briefly  answer,  that  there  are  many  forms  and  cere- 
monies, more  exceptionable  than  this,  observed,  by 
which  the  administration  of  the  laws  is  encumbered, 
and  the  time  of  public  business  wasted.  But  is  the 
document  regarded,  by  those  who  should  see  its 
conditions  obeyed,  as  an  empty  and  useless  form? 
Whence  have  they  come  to  such  a  conclusion?  Is 
it  because  its  injunctions  and  prohibitions  are  ineffi- 
cient, or  because  the  enforcement  of  them  is  imprac- 
ticable? *'  In  times  like  these,  must  nothing  but  the 
damps  of  oblivion,  from  the  brow  of  a  Judge  or  a 
Bishop,  be  shed  on  provincial  dulness?  Little  is  to  be 
expected,  at  a  time  like  the  present,  from  the  beauty^ 
without  the  vigour  and  the  spirit  of  holiness.  We  have 
reason  not  only  to  apprehend  the  violation  and  inva- 
sion of  our  public  sacred  establishments,  by  our 
avowed  enemies,  but  we  must  guard  against  negli- 
gence and  desertion,  in  the  very  posts  where  watch- 
fulness and  vigour  are  more  than  ever  required.  We 
should  assemble  in  the  temple,  with  all  our  princes, 
and  lords,  and  potentates,  and  venerable  orders,  and 
high  officers  of  state,  in  all  their  gradations  and 
dignities,  that  the  disciples  of  infidelity  and  profane- 
ness  may  be  made  to  "  feel  the  nature  of  the  pillars 
whereupon  their  house  standeth."  In  the  licentious- 
ness of  the  age,  the  lowest  public  functionary  has 
much  to  discharge.  But  we  must  see  high  exertions 
of  the  mind  in  high  and  hallowed  places.  The  priests 
and  ministers  of  the  Lord,  must  stand  between  the 
porch  and  the  altar,  and  exert  themselves,  "  before 
their  eyes  begin  to  wax  dim,  that  they  may  not  see; 
and  ere  the  lamp  of  God  goeth  out  in  the  temple  of 
the  Lord,  where  the  ark  of  God  was."  * 

*  1  Sam.  iii.  3. 

c  c  3 


306 


Such  were  the  fervent  terms  in  which  a  zealous 
friend,  *  of  the  public,  civil,  and  religious  establish- 
ments of  his  country,  wrote,  when  he  conceived  they 
were  in  danger  of  being  overturned  by  the  violence 
of  open  enemies  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  supineness 
of  their  natural  guardians  on  the  other;  and  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  that  they  are  not  inapplicable  to  the 
state  of  affairs  at  the  time  we  write. 

It  is  long  since  it  has  been  justly  observed,  that  a 
government  which  relaxes,  is  not  easily  recalled  to 
the  vigour  of  its  ancient  principles.  Have  we  reason 
to  apprehend,  then,  that,  on  the  great  points  of  reli- 
gious and  moral  duty,  there  has  been  a  relaxation  of 
the  law  of  the  land?  The  document  which  forms  the 
subject  of  this  Note,  furnishes  a  melancholy  proof  of 
the  fact.  The  laws  are  sufficiently  explicit  for  the 
enforcement  of  all  the  points  to  which  that  document 
refers,  but  they  are  not  put  in  execution.  A  specific 
number  of  acts  are  there  declared  to  be  offences 
against  the  authority  of  God  and  man;  and  the  means 
are  distinctly  described,  by  which  they  may  be 
restrained  and  suppressed.  But  these  means  are 
disregarded — the  offences,  of  course,  are  multiplied, 
instead  of  being  diminished — the  law  loses  its  terrors 
— its  officers  their  respect — and  the  guilty  are  har- 
dened in  their  career  of  iniquity,  by  the  very  relaxa- 
tion of  the  principles  and  practice  of  those  who  should 
sit  in  judgment  on  them. 

Nothing,  we  are  persuaded,  can  be  more  injurious 
to  the  moral  character  of  any  people,  than  to  frame 
laws  for  their  government,  which  it  is  impossible  to 


*  Author  of  the  *'  Pursuits  of  Literature. ' 


307 

carry  into  operation,  or  to  issue  edicts  and  ordinances 
which  it  is  never  intended  to  enforce.  In  such  cir- 
cumstances, they  can  feel  no  obh'gation  to  obey.  On 
the  contrary,  they  lose  all  reverence  for  the  authority 
which  commands  their  compliance.  They  transfer  the 
opinion  which  they  have  formed  of  the  impracticable, 
and,  as  they  imagine,  oppressive  statutes,  which  bear 
upon  their  own  conduct,  to  the  whole  code  of  legisla- 
tion; and  thus,  the  very  foundations  of  their  deference 
and  respect  for  the  institutions  and  laws  of  their 
country  are  undermined,  by  the  discovery  of  the 
absurdity,  and  inefficiency  of  certain  conditions  and 
terms,  which  it  was  never  intended  to  enforce. 

**  We  do  hereby,"  are  the  terms  of  the  Proclama- 
tion, "  strictly  enjoin  and  prohibit  all  Our  loving 
subjects,  of  what  Degree  or  Quality  soever,  from 
playing  on  the  Lord's  Day,  at  Dice,  Cards,  or  any 
other  Game  whatsoever,  either  in  Public  or  in 
Private  houses,  or  other  Place,  or  Places  whatsoever: 
And  we  do  hereby  require  and  command  them,  and 
every  of  them,  decently  and  reverently  to  attend 
the  Worship  of  God  on  every  Lord's  Day,  on  Pain 
of  Our  highest  displeasure,  and  of  being  proceeded 
against  with  the  utmost  rigour  that  may  be  by  Law... 

Our  further   pleasure  is,   and  We   do  hereby 

strictly  charge  and  command  all  Our  Judges,  Mayors, 
Sheriffs,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  all  other  Our 
Officers  and  Ministers,  both  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil, 
that  they  take  care  to  put  in  Execution  so  much  of 
an  Act  of  Parliament,  made  in  the  Ninth  Year  of  the 
Reign  of  William  the  Third,  intituled  An  Act  for  the 
more  effectual  suppressing  of  Blasphemy  and  Profane- 
ness,  as  is  now  in  force:  and  also  to  suppress  and 
prevent  all  Gaming  whatsoever,  in  Public  or  Private 


308 

houses,  on  the  Lord's  Day:  and  likewise,  that  they 
take  effectual  care  to  prevent  all  Persons  keeping 
Taverns,  Chocolate-Houses,  CofFee-Houses,  or  other 
Public  Houses,  whatsoever,  from  selling  Wine,  Cho- 
colate, Coffee,  Ale,  Beer,  or  other  Liquors,  or 
receiving  or  permitting  Guests  to  be,  or  remain,  in 
such  their  Houses,  in  the  Time  of  Divine  Service,  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  as  they  will  answer  it  to  Almighty 
God,  and  upon  pain  of  Our  highest  displeasure." 

All  this  is  very  explicit  and  excellent,  and,  we 
should  think,  there  could  be  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing or  enforcing  it.  But  let  us  examine  the 
manners  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis,  or 
those  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  considerable  provincial 
town.  Let  us  only  review  the  customs  and  fashions 
of  the  wealthy  and  privileged  orders  of  the  country, 
and  how  shall  we  find  them  stand,  in  reference  to  the 
points  here  enjoined  and  prohibited?  Are  taverns, 
ale-houses,  and  coffee-houses,  shut  during  the  hours 
of  divine  service,  or  are  guests  refused  to  be  admitted? 
Is  it  not  matter  of  notoriety,  that  they  are  more 
frequented  on  Sundays  than  any  other  days,  and  that 
the  Bacchanalian  roar  of  their  inmates,  often  assails, 
with  most  unwelcome  sounds,  the  ears  of  those  who 
are  quietly  journeying  to  the  house  of  God?  Are 
not  the  shops  of  bakers,  cooks,  confectioners, 
fruiterers,  &c.  kept  open,  and  all  the  wares  in  which 
they  traffic,  publicly  exposed  to  sale?  Is  gaming 
suppressed  or  discouraged  in  private  houses,  and  do 
those,  who,  from  their  rank  and  wealth,  are  best  quali- 
fied to  guide  public  opinion  and  fashion,  exert  their 
influence  to  prevent  the  desecration  of  the  Lord's 
Day,  by  prohibiting,  within  their  families,  the  indul- 
gence in  profane  sports  and  amusements?     Do  all 


309 

"  Persons  of  Honour,  or  in  Places  of  Authority," 
give  good  example,  by  their  own  virtue  and  piety, 
and  to  the  utmost,  contribute  to  the  discountenancing 
persons  of  dissolute  lives,  that  they  may  bring  them 
to  shame  and  contempt,  for  their  loose  and  evil 
actions?  Do  they  decently  and  reverently  attend  the 
Worship  ofGody  on  every  Lord's  Day?  Is  the  highest 
displeasure  of  royalty  manifested  towards  them  for 
the  neglect  of  it, — or  are  they  proceeded  against 
with  the  utmost  rigour  that  may  be  by  law?  * 

It  is  a  notorious  fact,  and  it  is  a  subject  of  ridicule 
to  the  profane,  that  the  laws  regarding  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  have  become  a  dead  letter.  The 
injunctions,  and  prohibitions,  and  penalties  of  the 
royal  proclamation,  were  never  enforced;  and  the 
pompous  parade  of  an  inert  and  inefficient  authority, 
has  only  given  boldness  to  transgressors  in  the  com- 
mission of  the  very  offences  it  was  meant  to  suppress 
and  punish.  Those  who  should  have  taken  the  lead 
in  the  reformation  of  the  evils  complained  of,  have 
unfortunately  given  all  the  weight  of  their  influence 
and    example    to    their    encouragement  and  growth. 


*  **  On  last  Sunday  afternoon,  among  the  fields  that  lie  between 
Strawberry- Lane  and  Upper- Heeley,  was  to  be  seen  as  much 
variety  of  sport,  as  if  it  had  been  some  common  holiday.  Here, 
might  be  witnessed,  some  groups  gambling  at  Pinch — there, 
a  party  indulging  in  the  exercise  of  Shooting — while  others 
might  be  seen  playing  at  Cricket — all  pursuing  their  profane 
pleasures,  with  apparent  consciousness  of  security.  It  is  devoutly 
to  be  wished,  that  more  active  measures  might  be  taken  to  put 
down,  at  least,  the  open  and  flagrant  violation  of  the  sanctity  of 
this  day." 

Sheffield  Iris,  Oct.  182-2. 


310 

The  Sabbath  was  first  made  a  day  of  travelling  and 
festivity  by  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  land;  and, 
as  riches  and  luxury  sprung  up  in  the  lower  ranks 
of  life,  the  wealthy  tradesman  and  merchant  have 
closely  followed  the  titled  orders  in  disrespect  for  the 
ordinances  of  religion,  and  the  appropriation  of  the 
day  of  holy  rest,  to  the  purposes  of  business,  of 
pleasure,  and  of  profligacy. 

It  is  now,  unhappily,  become  rather  a  rare  spectacle, 
to  behold  the  peerage  of  the  country,  seated  in  the 
house  of  God,  on  the  day  set  apart  for  his  worship, 
and  joining  with  their  humbler  brethren  in  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  their  dependence  on  his  providence, 
in  the  adoration  of  his  power,  and  wisdom,  and 
the  earnest  supplication  for  his  mercy  to  pardon  their 
sins,  and  his  grace  to  help  them  in  every  time  of 
need.  We  believe,  that,  among  certain  classes  of 
society,  it  is  deemed  vulgar  or  methodistical,  to  be 
regular  or  punctual  in  the  observance  of  religious 
ordinances.  The  charge  of  puritanism,  therefore, 
must  be  repelled  by  the  renunciation  of  all  the  ordi- 
nary forms,  and  duties,  of  a  devout  and  pious  life. 
Worldly  pleasures  must  fill  up  the  hours,  which  the 
divine  commandment  enjoins  us  to  dedicate  to  the 
public  worship  of  God.  The  duties  of  private  devo- 
tion, must  be  supplanted  by  the  relaxing  amusements 
of  private  gaming  ;  a  ride  or  a  drive  round  some 
fashionable  place  of  resort,  must  precede  the  enter- 
tainments of  the  evening:  and  this,  again,  must  be 
devoted  to  sensual  festivity  and  unholy  mirth,  for  the 
purpose  of  banishing  all  unwelcome  reflections  about 
the  obligations  of  the  divine  law,  and  the  fearful 
looking-for  of  judgment,  revealed  against  all  who 
profane  and  pollute  the  Sabbath,  by  doing  their  own 


811 


ways,  finding  their  own  pleasures,  and  speaking  their 
own  words. 

In  matters  of  reh'gion,  as  well  as  in  matters  of 
business  and  pleasure,  mankind  are  very  much  the 
creatures  of  circumstances  and  habit:  and  fashions 
and  customs,  which  were,  at  first,  quite  foreign  to  their 
taste  and  their  principles,  afterwards  become  as  closely 
incorporated  with  their  dispositions  and  desires,  as  if 
they  were  essential  to  their  existence  and  happiness. 
The  society  in  which  we  are  educated,  has  a  mighty 
effect  in  deciding  the  moral  and  intellectual  character 
of  man:  and  although  we  are  all  endowed  with  the 
faculty  of  judging  for  ourselves,  respecting  good  and 
evil,  and  right  and  wrong,  our  understanding  receives, 
imperceptibly,  from  early  associations  and  customs,  a 
bias  in  favour  of  particular  views  and  doctrines. 
And,  even  granting  that  we  may  have  been  early  and 
faithfully  taught  to  revere  the  ordinances  and  the  laws 
of  God;  even  granting  that  our  general  notions  of 
duty  may  originally  have  been  very  correct  and  just, 
we  unfortunately  know  from  experience,  that  prin- 
ciples, which  would  revolt  at  the  idea  of  any  sudden 
change,  are  melted  down  by  the  gradual  relaxation 
of  feeling  produced  by  continued  contact.  Com- 
placency in  the  soothing  enjoyment,  as  it  has  been 
well  observed  by  a  distinguished  female  writer,* 
creeps  on  by  almost  imperceptible  degrees.  The 
revolution  is  aot  the  less  certain,  because  it  is  not 
acknowledged.  A  false  shame  or  pernicious  deference 
to  the  opinions  and  fashions  of  the  world,  overcomes 
our  religious  scruples,  and,  in  some  cases,  undermines 


Hannah  More. 


312 

the  principles  of  our  virtue,  before  we  have  appre- 
hended any  danger  to  its  practice.  *'  The  conscience 
is  quieted  by  the  geographical  anodyne.''  Distance 
from  the  place  where  we  imbibed  the  principles  of 
virtue,  and  practised  the  duties  of  devotion  and  piety, 
is  followed  with  an  alienation  from  both.  "  /  ijoould 
not  do  in  England,  tvhat  I  ivoidd  think  it  no  harm  to  do 
in  Paris"  is  the  soothing  opiate  that  lulls  to  silence 
the  remonstrances  and  upbraidings  of  conscience; 
and  we  believe  that  the  same  deceitful  quietus  is 
resorted  to  by  many  of  our  northern  countrymen  who 
visit  the  southern  metropolis. 

**  A  practical  appeal  may  safely  be  made  to  the 
different  state  of  the  feelings  of  many  of  our  travellers, 
on  witnessing  the  open  violation  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
Jirst  Sunday,  and  the  twentieth  repetition  of  the  same 
abuse."  Who  can  affirm,  that  familiarity  has  not 
gradually  diminished  the  alarm,  and,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, suppressed  the  indignation,  naturally  inspired  by 
an  act  so  revolting  to  the  mind  of  a  person  who  has 
been  taught  to  fear  and  reverence  the  Lord,  by 
walking  in  his  ordinances,  and  keeping  his  statutes 
to  do  them  ?  Who  would  venture  to  assert,  that  a 
succession  of  desecrated  Sabbaths,  produces  no 
alteration  in  the  state  of  their  feelings,  except  that  of 
conciliating  and  continuing  them  in  the  practice  ? 
Does  not  a  neglect  of  the  performance  of  one  duty, 
lead  to  that  of  another;  and,  if  we  oflPend  habitually 
on  one  great  and  comprehensive  point  of  the  law, 
is  there  not  the  highest  probability,  that  we  shall 
become  regardless  of  many  of  the  minor  points, 
attention  to  which  is  necessary  to  constitute  the 
Christian  character? 

We  have  shown,  that  the  public  observance  of  the 


SIS 

Sabbath,  is  tlie  most  effectual  means  of  preserving, 
among  all  classes  of  the  community,  the  knowledge 
of  the  perfections  and  excellencies  of  the  Most  High  ; 
the  love  and  obedience  of  his  laws;  and  the  dread  of 
his  displeasure  and  wrath:  and  we  have  also  shown, 
that  the  profanation  of  it,  is  the  certain  precursor  of 
national  and  individual  profligacy  and  crime.  Now, 
we  appeal  to  any  man  who  has  visited  any  of  the 
principal  towns  on  the  Continent,  whether,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  public  and  flagitious  violation  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  vice  and  sensuality,  of  all 
descriptions,  are  not  seen  stalking  abroad  with  more 
shameless  effrontery  on  that  day,  than  on  any  other  ? 
If  there  is  a  cessation  of  secular  labour,  it  is  not  for 
the  purpose  of  devoting  the  time  to  religious  exer- 
cises, but  to  profane  sports  and  licentious  revelry. 
Nay,  we  shall  stop  nearer  home,  and  ask  any  man 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  metropolis,  whether  the  day  of 
sacred  rest,  is  not  unhappily  devoted,  by  a  great 
proportion  of  them,  to  luxurious  feasting,  to  pleasure 
jaunts,  family  visits,  private  amusements,  and  all 
manner  of  sinful  and  sensual  indulgence.  The  very 
opposite  of  the  divine  injunction  is  there  exemplified, 
for  every  one  seems  greedily  following  his  own  ways, 
and  finding  his  own  pleasures.  The  churches,  com- 
paratively speaking,  are  deserted.  The  river  is 
covered  with  parties  of  pleasure.  The  parks  and  tea- 
gardens  are  crowded;  and  the  spectacle  which  they 
exhibit,  has  become  a  grievous  nuisance  to  every  pious 
and  considerate  passenger. 

What,  then,  has  become  of  the   Statute  of  King 
Charles  the   Secondy  Jbr  the  better  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Day:  or  of  the  Act  of  King  William  the  Third, 
D    d 


314 

for  the  more  effectual  suppressing  of  Blasphemy  and 
Prqfayieness '.  or  of  the  Proclamation  of  our  gracious 
king,  George  the  Fourth,  for  the  encouragement  of 
Piety  and  Virtue,  and  for  the  preventing  and  punish- 
ing all  Vice  and  Immorality?  Their  injunctions  and 
penalties  apply  indiscriminately  to  all  ranks  and 
descriptions  of  persons:  and  we  apprehend,  that,  as  it 
would  be  impossible  to  enforce  their  conditions,  with- 
out subjecting  the  higher  classes  to  public  reproach 
and  punishment,  it  has  been  found  convenient,  for 
the  safety  of  all  parties,  to  allow  the  enactments 
in  question,  to  sink  into  desuetude,  and  to  wink  at 
the  evils  they  were  intended  to  check  and  repress. 

Encouragement  is  given,  by  the  example  of  many 
persons  of  rank  and  fashion,  to  desecrate  the  Sabbath, 
by  the  indulgence  in  secular  business  and  pleasure; 
and  nothing  is  more  common,  than  to  hear  an  apology 
offered  for  the  Sunday's  amusements  of  the  middle 
ranks  in  London,  by  representing  them  as  necessary 
for  the  enjoyment  of  health  and  comfort.  On  every 
Lord's  Day,  it  pours  forth  its  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  its  busy  population,  in  quest  of  amusement 
and  pleasure  from  the  adjoining  country;  and,  except 
the  chime  of  distant  bells,  which  summon,  almost 
unheeded,  the  surrounding  neighbourhood  to  the 
house  of  God,  there  is  scarcely  any  other  index  to  be 
observed,  that  Sunday  is  the  day  of  holy  and  religious 
rest.  Complacency  in  the  soothing  enjoyment,  has 
rapidly  spread  among  the  tradesmen  and  shopmen  of 
London;  and  as  health  is  the  first  of  temporal  blessings, 
they  have  armed  themselves  with  an  argument  for 
deserting  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  under  the  pretext 
of  supplying  the  waste,  which  the  labours  of  the  past 
week  have  produced.     It  is  "thus,  the  watering-places, 


315 


tea-gardens,  &c.  have  been  called  the  safety-valves 
of  London;  and  a  Sunday's  excursion  thither,  repre- 
sented as  a  necessary  restorative  to  the  exhausted 
frame  of  a  London  citizen. 

We  shall  leave  it  to  those,  who  have  witnessed  the 
scenes  on  board  a  Margate  or  any  other  steam-packet, 
on  a  Sunday;  or  the  riotous  pleasure  parties,  which 
meet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  metropolis ;  or  the  profuse 
and  licentious  recreations  of  the  tea-gardens,  &c.; 
to  say,  whether  even  the  bodily  health  of  the  violators 
of  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  is  not  more  injured  by 
the  sensual  indulgencies  of  that  day,  than  by  all  the 
ordinary  labours  of  the  preceding  week:  and,  as  to 
their  spiritual  health — as  to  the  interests  of  their 
immortal  souls — it  is  fearful  to  contemplate  the  black- 
ness of  darkness  which  the  righteous  judgments  of 
God  have  revealed  as  their  everlasting  portion.  But 
the  evil,  we  hope,  is  reaching  a  crisis,  and  will  soon 
meet  with  redress.  The  mischiefs  to  which  irreligion 
has  led,  in  some  neighbouring  nations,  should  awaken 
the  great  and  powerful  in  our  own  country,  to  a 
sense  of  the  importance  of  religious  ordinances  for 
the  preservation  of  national  and  individual  happiness; 
for  "  until  the  duties  of  religion  shall  be  recommended 
by  the  general  example  of  the  superior  ranks,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  will  the  bridle  of  legal  restraint  act 
with  effect  on  vulgar  profligacy." 


Glasgow:    Printed  by  James  Curll, 
26,  Bell- Street. 


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